US couple ordered to turn over funds raised for homeless ‘Good Samaritan’
Pair raised US$400,000 for Johnny Bobbitt after he lent the woman his last US$20 to buy fuel after she ran out on a motorway late at night
A New Jersey judge issued the order on Thursday during a hearing on the lawsuit brought by Johnny Bobbitt, who worries Mark D’Amico and Katie McClure have mismanaged a large part of the donations raised for him on GoFundMe.
The couple deny those claims, saying they are wary of giving Bobbitt large sums because they are worried he might buy drugs.
The judge ordered the couple to transfer the money into an escrow account by the end of business on Friday and hire a forensic accountant to review the financial records within 10 days.
The money will be transferred to an account controlled by Bobbitt’s lawyers but cannot be used until the judge determines how it will be managed. The judge did not appoint a guardian to oversee the fund, but one could be appointed later.
McClure set up the online fundraiser page as a way to give back to Bobbitt, who came to her aid when she ran out of petrol on an Interstate 95 exit ramp late one night. It raised more than US$400,000 donated by about 14,000 people.