Man Accused of Bilking Homeless Man Out of GoFundMe Money Appears in Court

The man accused, along with his girlfriend, of bilking a homeless man out of hundreds of thousands of dollars appeared in a New Jersey court on Tuesday, Sept. 18, on an unrelated traffic charge.

Mark D'Amico was arrested on Sept. 10 on a warrant stemming from a car stop on Oct. 25, 2017, and his subsequent failure to appear, twice, in court on the motor vehicle charges, reported the Cherry Hill Courier-Post.

Burlington City police Capt. John Fine told the Post that D'Amico was arrested on a contempt warrant for failure to appear in court on three traffic charges: driving with a suspended license, failure to surrender his license after a suspension, and driving with a broken tail light.

Burlington City Municipal Court Judge Dennis McInerney dropped the charge of driving with a suspended license on Tuesday, following a discussion between the prosecutor and defendant, but kept the other two charges in place.

READ MORE

• GoFundMe Couple Likely to Face Criminal Charges in $400,000 Money Feud
• Homeless Man Will Get His Full $400,000 Says GoFundMe

D'Amico was ordered to get his license restored and appear back in court on Oct. 9.

While walking out of the Burlington Township Municipal Center, D'Amico said, “We’re letting the cops doing their jobs; the investigators are investigating.”

“I can’t wait to talk but I can’t do it right now,” he added.

He declined to provide further comment.

Johnny Bobbitt Jr., left, Kate McClure, right, and McClure's boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, pose at a Citgo station in Philadelphia on Nov. 17, 2017. Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP

Strange Saga

D'Amico, his girlfriend Katelyn McClure, and formerly homeless man Johnny Bobbitt Jr. are the three major players in a strange saga that has been playing out since November 2017.

McClure was driving on a highway in Philadelphia when she ran out of fuel at an exit ramp. Bobbitt, a veteran who was homeless at the time, famously used his last $20 to buy her gas.

D'Amico soon came back to thank Bobbitt. Touched by his generosity, the couple launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign for Bobbitt, expecting to raise a few thousand dollars to help him out of his situation. Unexpectedly, the amount raised topped $400,000.

READ MORE

• Officials Take BMW From GoFundMe Couple Accused of Taking $400,000 From Homeless Veteran

In the summer of this year, though, Bobbitt filed a lawsuit against the couple, claiming they had only passed on $75,000 of the total.

Bobbitt has accused McClure and D'Amico of spending the rest of the money. The couple has said they gave Bobbitt $200,000 but wanted to place the rest in a trust because they were concerned he would squander it. The reason, they said, is that he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on drugs. GoFundMe announced in early September that Bobbitt would get all the money from his fundraising campaign.

A search warrant on the home of D'Amico and McClure was executed on Sept. 6, and officials seized a BMW from the couple. The couple’s lawyer recently wrote a letter stating he would not be representing them any longer. He also said he expected one or both of the so-called GoFundMe couple to face criminal charges.

From NTd.tv