Kate McClure and Mark DAmico raise more than $400,000 in just a few weeks.
[00:00:09] Bob: Oh my God.
[00:00:10] Scott Coffina: He was charged with animal cruelty for that.
[00:00:12] Bob: Ugh.
[00:00:13] Scott Coffina: Just a horrible case.
(MUSIC INTRO)
[00:00:35] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
Im your host, Bob Sullivan.
It’s the holiday season and who doesn’t like a heartwarming story?
A few years ago, it seemed all of America was mesmerized by just such a tale.
Bobbitt says at the time he’s done selfless gestures like this before.
You know sometimes people take it, sometimes they don’t.
But you know in this case, she, you know she, she needed the help.
She took the help.
I was glad to offer it, you know, help when somebody needed it.
A local newspaper gets wind of the tale and writes about it.
Other news outlets pick it up.
Soon the story of the homeless veteran spending his last $20 to help a stranded woman is everywhere.
[00:02:55] (clip) This really was the feel-good story of the holidays in 2017.
[00:03:15] (clip) What started as a good deed turned into a big pay-it-forward.
[00:03:17] (clip) This act of kindness set off a domino effect.
[00:03:51] Bob: Within a few weeks the holidays pass and the story fades from national attention.
[00:04:23] Bob: A local newspaper is tipped off to that story and writes about it.
Then soon after the fairy tale officially ends … in a courtroom.
Scott, who at the time is the Burlington County Prosecutor, takes notices of the curious lawsuit.
[00:05:44] Bob: So their initial research was just listening to the civil case.
The couple says it’s all just a misunderstanding.
They say Bobbitt has been squandering the donated money on drugs.
So they’re just holding onto the money to protect him.
And they go back on national TV to make their case.
They’re interviewed by Megyn Kelly on her knew data pipe TV show.
But as Scott Coffina watches the show at home, he becomes even more curious.
She was so uncomfortable in that, in that show with Megyn Kelly.
I know you’ve been getting death threats now.
You try–, you tried to do a good thing.
Ah, Kate…
Kate: I’m sorry.
Megyn: What do you want people to know?
And I still believe that we did a good thing, and I would do it all over again.
I would do it all over again for him.
(applause)
[00:07:48] Bob: Scott isn’t buying it.
The tears, the applause; he’s got a bad feeling about this story.
All the money is gone.
And that sends Scott into action.
So by the 6th, we were in their house with a search warrant.
[00:09:43] Bob: 60,000 text messages.
[00:09:44] Scott Coffina: Yeah, and between others.
They didn’t delete anything.
There were also recorded messages.
They pretty much made the case for us.
[00:10:19] Scott Coffina: In late 2017 and early 2018, they had taken extravagant trips.
So and we, then we, like we didn’t have to look very hard for that.
That was on their own Facebook page.
[00:10:56] Bob: But subsequent investigation confirms his worst suspicions.
[00:11:01] Scott Coffina: The campaign closed on December 11, 2017.
By March of 2018, so four months later, all of the money was gone.
[00:11:27] Bob: I, I mean did they buy an expensive car?
How, how did they blow through that money?
[00:11:32] Scott Coffina: Well they had the trips.
And they, they did buy a car.
They bought a BMW and you know, paid for that in essentially cash.
Whether there is a gambling problem or not, he gambles a lot.
Q: 2000 BMW.
5000 Disney, 10,000 in bags.
You both went to Vegas, right?
Huh, so just right there is $40,000.
(inaudible) everything else.
But you thought you didn’t even spend a dollar.
It was made up; it was made up from the beginning.
[00:13:26] Bob: Okay, so when you discover that, what do you think?
But we knew we had something that was pretty explosive.
[00:13:46] Bob: That something is a single text message which makes clear everything was a lie.
“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.”
[00:15:24] Bob: A much bigger case that once again captures the attention of national media.
All three are charged with theft by deception.
[00:15:43] Bob: You know making up a story is not a crime, right?
Well what is the actual crime here?
[00:15:47] Scott Coffina: So the crime is a fraud upon the donors.
[00:15:59] Bob: McClure and D’Amico tried to maintain their innocence right until the very end.
That they were trying to get a book deal like right up through the point of them being charged.
And I think they thought that might somehow be their lifeline.
They met him near the casino, the Sugar House Casino, which is off of I-95 in Philadelphia.
[00:17:42] Bob: And their cover story had been perhaps in the works for years.
[00:19:06] Bob: Johnny Bobbitt pleads guilty in 2019 and is sentenced to 5 years' probation.
We were founded in 1992, and we rate charities on an A+ to F scale.
[00:20:14] Bob: That sounds like a lot of work.
[00:20:16] Laurie Styron: It’s incredibly time intensive.
[00:20:19] Bob: Laurie remembers the Johnny Bobbitt story well.
I remember that that story really tugged at my heartstrings, too.
And we can see that that story really worked very successfully.
And so this was really just a, a perfect storm of ticking all the boxes.
[00:22:24] Laurie Styron: Well, people love crowdfunding.
It’s a really convenient way to donate.
There’s really no way to totally prevent that even with some good efforts in place to do so.
But it’s, it’s not that simple.
[00:25:36] Bob: As little as basically 10 cents on the dollar?
[00:25:38] Laurie Styron: We’ve seen instances of that, yes.
[00:25:41] Bob: How can they get away with that?
[00:25:44] Bob: I think everyone listening appreciates that looking at balance sheets is not for everyone.
[00:27:31] Bob: There are basically two types of bad charities, Laurie says.
We’re competing with all of this noise on the internet.
There’s so many different places.
We have to go hire an outside company.
Uh, that, I mean I’m sympathetic to hearing that.
I’m guessing that you, you would be too.
Laurie says it’s best to avoid the clipboard holders.
That’s generally not true.
Typically those are hourly workers who are being paid an hourly rate to solicit you.
[00:30:35] Laurie Styron: Exactly.
That’s a good way for the charity perhaps to collect information.
[00:31:41] Laurie Styron: Well this is really the reason why my organization exists.
[00:34:01] Bob: And part of that consideration should be online research.
That said, due to the time intensive nature of our analysis, we can’t rate every non-profit.
[00:34:55] Bob: And uh, is that the tax-exempt organization search or what would that be?
[00:35:00] Laurie Styron: It is.
[00:35:10] Laurie Styron: Yes, yes it does.
And we also have that link on our website on our resources for donors' page.
But instead, make a giving plan.
Because it is very easy to make a mistake when you make reactive decisions.
So where have McClure and D’Amico gone?
McClure pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in state prison this January.
She was already in prison on federal charges.
D’Amico was sentenced to 5 years in 2022.
So he’s quick to offer suggestions for would-be donors.
I mean to think locally.
They’re helping their community, they’re helping their, their friends.
Sometimes you’ll see that somebody had died and they’re raising money.
There were three others back during his time as prosecutors.
[00:39:31] Bob: Oh God.
[00:39:32] Scott Coffina: He was charged ultimately with animal cruelty for that.
[00:39:34] Bob: Ugh
[00:39:35] Scott Coffina: Just a horrible case.
[00:40:32] Bob: Do remember roughly how old the child was?
[00:40:34] Scott Coffina: I think 4 years old.
[00:40:37] Bob: That’s just so dark, oh my God.
[00:40:38] Scott Coffina: Yeah.
Dark is the way to put it.
[00:41:18] Bob: In fact, he says that’s one silver lining to the Bobbitt case.
That’s something he worried about even back in 2018.
[00:43:51] Bob: How do you stay positive after seeing all these dark things?
[00:44:53] Bob: And Laurie says she also remains positive despite the charity problems she has witnessed.
They’re doing important work.
And so I would say, if you’re someone who can afford it, give generously.
There’s a lot of different ways to give and financial donations are only one of them.
[00:46:11] Laurie Styron: I absolutely do.
[00:47:48] Bob: For The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch web connection Helpline at 877-908-3360.
Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next.
That address again is: theperfectscampodcast@aarp.org.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
