GoFundMe says it has refunded more than $400,000 back to 14,000 donors who opened their wallets to help a homeless veteran in what prosecutors now say was a fake "good Samaritan" scam. The online fundraising campaign was started by New Jersey couple Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico to raise money for Johnny Bobbitt, who supposedly gave McClure his last $20 when her car ran out of gas. But prosecutors say the three actually made up the story and conspired to split the proceeds.

All of the money raised has now been refunded, including processing and administration fees, GoFundMe spokesperson Bobby Whithorne, said in an email to CBS News on Monday.

After a chance encounter at a local casino, the trio allegedly devised a story that prosecutors later called "too good to be true."  McClure and D'Amico set up a GoFundMe campaign, "Paying it Forward," to reward Bobbitt for his generosity around the holiday season last year. The story caught the attention of people around the world and quickly soared past their initial $10,000 goal, amassing more than $400,000, according to police records.

"It was an irresistibly heartwarming tale," Scott Coffina, the Burlington County Prosecutor, said in a press conference in November.

But, as prosecutors revealed last month, there's evidence that the entire story was a fabrication. According to Coffina, McClure texted a friend less than an hour after the GoFundMe campaign launched, saying the story was "completely made up." McClure did not run out of gas on an I-95 ramp and Bobbitt did not offer his last $20 to help her.  In the text exchange, McClure told her friends to "shh about the made up stuff," Coffina said.

All three are charged with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. They could face up to ten years of jail time if convicted. Ernest Badway, an attorney for the couple, declined to comment.

In the weeks before charges were filed, the three had begun publicly squabbling over the money. Bobbitt claimed the couple spent some of the donations and a judge had gotten involved in determining where the money had gone.

On Monday, GoFundMe said it had refunded all of the donors using the online platform's own money, according to Whithorne. The crowdsourcing website normally collects a fee of 2.9 percent of each donation, plus $0.30 per gift, according to its website, but it said that was refunded as well. 

McClure and D'Amico were scheduled to appear in court on Monday, but their attorneys waived the hearing, Joel Bewley, a public information officer for the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, said in an email to CBS News. The couple has no future court dates scheduled. The county prosecutor is currently preparing to present the case to a grand jury, Bewley said.

A New Jersey couple and homeless veteran who captured international attention and praise for their heartwarming "good Samaritan" tale have been arrested for fraud, an unexpected twist in a yearlong story of good deeds gone wrong. The Burlington County prosecutor's office announced the charges Thursday.

The woman, Katelyn McClure, and her boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, started a GoFundMe campaign for Johnny Bobbitt last year after sharing a story of how he supposedly offered his last $20 to help McClure when her car ran out of gas.

The "Paying it Forward" fundraiser was immensely popular, collecting over $400,000 from over 14,000 donors around the world. But the feel-good story quickly started to unravel into a dispute over money. And now prosecutors say it was all a scam from the beginning.

"It might seem to good to be true and unfortunately it was," prosecutor Scott Coffina said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. "The entire campaign was predicated on a lie."

According to Coffina, McClure texted a friend less than an hour after the GoFundMe campaign launched, saying the story was "completely made up." McClure did not run out of gas on an I-95 ramp and Bobbitt did not offer his last $20 to help her.  In the text exchange, McClure told her friends to "shh about the made up stuff," Coffina said.

Instead, prosecutors allege the trio met a month prior to the fundraiser's launch at a local casino they all frequented and conspired to raise the money with a story that would resonate with potential donors. The crowdsourced fundraiser, brought in nearly $403,000 during the 2017 holiday season.

"It was an irresistibly heartwarming tale," Coffina said. 

All three are charged with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. They could face up to ten years of jail time if convicted.

McClure and D'Amico quickly spent the funds on expensive handbags, jewelry, and a lavish New Year's Eve trip to Las Vegas, according to a press release from the prosecutor's office. ATM information shows that the couple withdrew upwards of $85,000 in the immediate vicinity of casinos in Atlantic City, Bensalem, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. By March 2018, less than $10,000 remained.

Bobbitt sued the couple in September, claiming McClue and D'Amico has mismanaged the funds, using the donated money as a "personal piggy bank" to bankroll a extravagant lifestyle that the receptionist and carpenter otherwise couldn't afford. A superior court judge in Burlington County ordered sworn statements to find out where the money had gone.

But that didn't stop the couple from pursuing a book deal about their supposed charitable act, Coffina said at the press conference. The titled of the would-be book was "No Good Deed."

Each side gave differing accounts as to what happened to the money. Bobbitt's attorney said he'd only been given $75,000 but the couple insisted they had given him $200,000. GoFundMe collected $30,000 in fees. In early September, the couple's home was raided by investigators who also seized their BMW.

GoFundMe said they will refund the money to donors.