Pair in homeless vet scandal vow not to incriminate themselves

PHILADELPHIA— A judge on Wednesday ordered a Burlington County couple to testify under oath next week about what happened to the $400,000 they raised in a GoFundMe campaign to help a homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt — money their lawyer says is gone and that Bobbitt says they squandered.

Burlington County Superior Court Judge Paula Dow directed Bobbitt’s team of pro-bono lawyers to request financial statements from the pair before the court closes Wednesday.

At the hearing, the couple’s lawyer told the judge they wanted to invoke their constitutional right against self-incrimination, or to plead the Fifth Amendment.

At issue is whether the couple misappropriated money donated by more than14,000 people in a campaign to help Bobbitt, who made headlines when he spent his last $20 to help a stranger, Kate McClure, when she ran out of gas on the I-95 ramp in Kensington. In gratitude, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, started the GoFundMe campaign in November to help Bobbitt get off the street. But that effort dissolved into discord as Bobbitt accused the couple of spending the money for their personal gain.

In court Wednesday, the judge ordered McClure and D’Amico to meet with Bobbitt and his lawyers Monday to give depositions about their stewardship of the GoFundMe money. The meeting will take place at a detoxification facility where Bobbitt is seeking treatment.

The judge ordered McClure and D’Amico to testify after they failed to comply with her order to move any remaining funds into an escrow account controlled by Bobbitt’s legal team.

“You should advise your clients that they are directed by the court to appear,” Dow told the couple’s attorney, Ernest E. Badway.