The donors to a heartwarming GoFundMe campaign that was later revealed to be a scam have all been refunded, the company said Tuesday.
"All donors who contributed to this GoFundMe campaign have been fully refunded,” said spokesman Bobby Whithorne in a statement. “GoFundMe always fully protects donors, which is why we have a comprehensive refund policy in place.”
More than 14,000 people raised over $400,000 after hearing about the tale of Johnny Bobbitt last year. According to the campaign, which was set up by Kate McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, Bobbitt gave McClure his last $20 for gas after she ran out while on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia.
The campaign took off, with the trio going on to do various interviews as they gained attention nationwide.
But cracks began to show earlier this year, when Bobbitt sued the couple, saying he'd seen only a fraction of the money supposedly raised to help him.
In November, Burlington County prosecutor Scott Coffina announced the story was a "lie." "It might seem too good to be true and unfortunately it was," he said.
Coffina pointed to text messages McClure exchanged with a friend, apparently admitting the tale was fake. “I had to make something up to make people feel bad,” she allegedly wrote. It was one of more than 60,000 messages looked at by prosecutors.
McClure, D’Amico and Bobbitt have all been charged with second-degree theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. All three have pleaded not guilty, and McClure's attorney denies that she anything to do with the scheme, alleging that it was concocted by Bobbitt and D'Amico alone.
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