I’M THE VICTIM!
GoFundMe scam gal sez she was just along for ride
One of three people charged in the New Jersey GoFundMe scandal claims she is just an innocent victim despite damaging evidence presented by prosecutors.
Kate McClure, who was arrested along with boyfriend Mark D’Amico and homeless man Johnny Bobbitt, are accused of raising $400,000 under false pretenses. However, McClure believed she was just “helping a homeless veteran,” according to her lawyer.
“She is a wonderful person,” James Gerrow told ABC News on Monday. “The other side of it is she is a bit naive.”
Gerrow said McClure had no idea that there was a “conspiracy” concocted by D’Amico and Bobbitt to “get money” using GoFundMe. The lawyer played a tape of an argument he said involved McClure and D’Amico.
“You started the whole f— ing thing. You did everything,” McClure says to her boyfriend, according to ABC News. “I had no part in any of this, and I’m the one taking the f—ing fall.”
“You don’t go to jail for lying on TV, you dumb f—k,” he allegedly responded.
“But who made me lie on TV?” McClure responded, referring to their numerous public appearances.
“Who cares?” D’Amico responded, according to ABC News.
Gerrow told ABC News that the couple had an “abusive” relationship.
“One of the reasons that I provided you the tape was to show you the nature of that. From the start, Kate thought she was helping a veteran who was homeless and that Mr. D’Amico was the one behind this and he was calling all the shots,” he told the network.
The lawyer was asked by George Stephanopoulos why McClure did not go to the police.
“At that point in time, she didn’t understand or appreciate the fact that this might very well be a crime,” Gerrow told ABC News. “What she’s talking about and what she thought all along was the fact .... that she was trying to help this homeless man.”
Gerrow said the couple did buy a BMW and other items, but said prosecutors exaggerated their value of them. He said it was a 2015 vehicle, and the handbags purchased by McClure were used.
McClure, D’Amico and Bobbitt have been charged with second-degree conspiracy and theft by deception. A probable cause affidavit released by authorities last week included text messages sent by McClure that appeared to show she was involved in the scheme.
“Okay so wait the gas part is completely made up ... But the guy isn’t ... I had to make something up to make people feel bad . . . So, shush about the made up part,” McClure wrote to a friend, according to authorities.
Investigators say D’Amico and McClure started the GoFundMe page for Bobbitt a year ago after claiming he used his last $20 to help a stranded McClure.
“She did not run out of gas, and he did not spend his last 20 dollars to help her,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said during a press conference last week.
D’Amico’s lawyer declined to comment to The News on Monday, and an attorney for Bobbitt could not be reached.
Thousands of people contributed to the fundraising campaign, which was titled, “Paying it Forward.” The page would later come under scrutiny, and the BMW was found at the couple’s home.