Plot Thickens In Alleged NJ GoFundMe Scam As Girlfriend Insists SHE Was Conned

via <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/hvv4r-paying-it-forward" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe</a>

The screw continues to turn in the tale of the GoFundMe scammers, the New Jersey couple who allegedly crowdsourced over $400,000 for a local homeless man, only to spend the bulk of that money on themselves. Last week, news surfaced that all three parties were allegedly working in cahoots to fabricate the heartwarming story that inspired the fundraiser, but now the young woman involved insists she's the one who got conned.

On Tuesday, ABC's Good Morning America published audio in which 28-year-old Kate McClure can allegedly be heard castigating her ex-boyfriend and apparent partner-in-crime, 39-year-old Mark D'Amico, for forcing her to participate in the scheme in the first place. "You started the whole f*cking thing, you did everything," a woman's voice, reportedly McClure's, says on the tape, going on to admit that she did indeed spend some of the money. "I had no part in any of this, and I'm the one f*cking taking the fall."

The segment does not explain how, exactly, McClure may have been set up, but damningly enough, her role does sit firmly at the center of this story. She set up a GoFundMe page last fall, recounting how a homeless vet named Johnny Bobbitt spent his last $20 helping her out of a bind when her car ran out of gas on a New Jersey highway.

"Johnny sits on the side of the road every day, holding a sign," she wrote. "He saw me pull over and knew something was wrong. He told me to get back in the car and lock the doors. A few minutes later, he comes back with a red gas can. Using his last 20 dollars to make sure I could get home safe." McClure said she paid that money back to him, and also began bringing him winter gear, but added that she wanted to "do more for this selfless man."

He "went out of his way just to help me that day," she explained on the crowdfunding site. "He is such a great guy, and talking to him each time I see him makes me want to help him more and more." Enter the viral fundraising campaign, which ended up amassing hundreds of thousands of dollars from 14,000 people, the entire pot allegedly earmarked for Bobbitt.

At first, this ostensibly charitable act appeared heartwarming, but over time it was reported that instead of using the money to help Bobbitt find an apartment, buy a car, and secure all the basic necessities a person typically needs to find a job—clothing, food, toiletries—McClure and D'Amico allegedly funneled the donations into a conspicuously lavish lifestyle change.

Bobbitt told the Philadelphia Inquirer he'd seen only a small sliver of the sum, and expressed suspicion at the new BMW McClure, a receptionist, suddenly began driving. McClure and D'Amico, meanwhile, explained that they couldn't hand over the money all at once, because Bobbitt would blow it on drugs. Instead, they said, they meted out the bounty slowly, buying things for him instead of simply giving him cash. They had an explanation for all of it, but a judge didn't buy it, and ordered the couple to pay up in August. Authorities then showed up at the couple's house, confiscating their shiny new purchases as GoFundMe pledged to get Bobbitt all the money that had been raised for him.

But then, the plot twisted again, as reports emerged that Bobbitt may have been in on the scam, prompting speculation that charges would follow. The couple turned themselves in last week, Bobbitt was arrested, and all three have been charged with conspiracy and theft by deception.

On the audio, the woman expresses concern that she would take the fall if the case turned criminal. "You don't go to jail for lying on TV you dumb b*itch," a man's voice, allegedly D'Amico's, replies, prompting McClure to yell back: "But who made me lie on TV?"

According to Good Morning America, GoFundMe will refund all the donors whom the couple, or trio, scammed. Meanwhile, the apparent conspirators could face five to 10 years behind bars.