Homeless Man and his couple. Source: Facebook.
A homeless man has filed a lawsuit against a couple who raised $400,000 to help him secure accommodation and a better life.
The man identified as Johnny Bobbitt, 35, went viral in 2017 after he helped Kate McClure, 28, who was at the time stranded, with his last $20 to fuel her car.
Kate shared the news online, which eventually went viral, then she and her husband, Mark D’Amico, 39, began an online fundraiser for him.
Local media reports that Kate works as a receptionist for the New Jersey Department of Transportation while her husband works as a carpenter.
Homeless man. Source: Facebook.
Famzn News gathered that the fundraiser attracted at least 14,000 donors, which yielded about $400,000. However, Bobbit has now filed a lawsuit claiming the couple used the donation as their personal “piggy bank”.
He accused the couple of fraud and conspiracy in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
Lawyers representing the 35-year-old homeless man claimed in the suit filed in Mount Holly Philadelphia that the couple used the fund raised “to fund a lifestyle that they could not otherwise afford”.
Bobbit said in an interview that the couple bought a new BMW and paid for trips to Las Vegas and Florida.
The homeless man alleged that the couple sold his camper, gambled away some of his money and refused to provide him any financial records.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Philadelphia Inquirer, Kate said she felt frustrated and betrayed but she still wished to help Bobbit.
In tears, she told the newspaper that she doesn’t “want to lose my job over this”.
Kate and her husband further alleged that he once blew $25,000 on drugs in 13 days.
D’Amico told NBC that “every dollar he ever touched was used for drugs.”