Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/AP
Police have searched the home of a New Jersey couple accused of spending the thousands of dollars they raised for a homeless man on lavish vacations and a new BMW, PEOPLE confirms.
The Florence Police Department executed a search warrant at Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico’s home early Thursday morning, just days after lawyers alleged in court that the $400,000 they raised torescue Johnny Bobbitt from homelessness is now gone, a department spokesman confirms to PEOPLE.
The search comes just two days after Bobbitt’s attorneys reported to the court that they believed all of the funds raised for the Philadelphia man are gone.
“It is safe to say that we were shocked and concerned when their lawyer told us Tuesday that there was no money left,” Bobbitt’s attorney, Jacqueline Promislo, tells PEOPLE. “We are now doing some discovery on an emergency basis to try to figure out where the money went but at this time we have no further information.”
On Wednesday, Judge Paula Dow of Burlington County Superior Court ordered MCClure, 28, and 39-year-old D’Amico to appear before her in court before Sept. 14 to explain what happened to the money. The couple’s attorney, Ernest Badway, tried to assert the couple’s Fifth Amendment rights, but Dow said she would rather McClure and D’Amico do that for themselves in her presence, according toABC News.
RELATED STORY: N.J. Couple’s $400,000 Donations for Homeless Man’s GoFundMe Is Gone, His Attorney Says
Badway declined to comment to PEOPLE on the matter.
Gofundme
Last week, Dow ordered the couple to hand over the remainder of the money to Bobbitt’s attorneys’ law firm. But Promislo tells PEOPLE that the pair “did not transfer any money to the escrow account.”
RELATED STORY: N.J. Couple Ordered to Hand Over GoFundMe Money to Homeless Vet After He Accused Them of Fraud
David Swanson /The Philadelphia Inquirer/AP
McClure and D’Amico have denied the allegations and spoke about the incident last week onMegyn Kelly Today, claiming that they went above and beyond to track down the man’s birth certificate and get him identification.
“He was our family. He is our family. I still think, to this day, that he is our family,” McClure told Kelly. McClure spoke through tears as she claimed the couple’s been receiving death threats.
“It’s so hard to deal with because these people are getting one side of the story,” she said. “Receiving death threats, and threats to burn my house down and threats against my family and everything like that is so hard to deal with when we know that we did a good thing. I still believe that we did a good thing and I would do it all over again. I would do it all over again for him.”
GoFundMe officials are working with authorities in the matter, and have set up an account with $20,000 with Bobbitt’s lawyers, according toGood Morning America. According toGMA, officials with the fundraising site have also said Bobbitt will receive the donations as a result of theirGoFundMe Guarantee program, a policy that ensures recipients receive their money, or those who have donated receive refunds in the event of “campaign misuse.”
source: people.com
