Lachlan Morganti, a 22-year-old Australian man, has pleaded guilty to stealing $65,000 from a GoFundMe fundraiser.
In April 2024, Lachlan Morganti created a GoFundMe page on behalf of the McGuire family, whose daughter Hannah McGuire was found dead in a destroyed car in Ballarat.
Morganti created the GoFundMe page, which raised $65,000, as he knew the McGuire family through the family-owned Clunes Cricket Club and Clunes National Hotel.
The court noted that Morganti had the money raised from the GoFundMe page transferred directly into his bank account, which he then sent to Debbie McGuire, Hannah’s mother.
However, Morganti has now pleaded guilty to stealing all the funds raised from the page. The prosecution told the Ballarat Magistrates Court that the McGuire family “has not received a cent of the fundraising.”
It revealed in court that Morganti struggled with a gambling addiction, and it was later alleged that the 22-year-old gambled the entire amount from the fundraiser over five days to try and recoup losses he had accumulated in gambling debts.
According to the ABC, the charge indicates that Mr Morganti allegedly stole $64,541.75 from the online fundraiser between April 25 and April 30, 2024.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Morganti is known as Lmorgn7_ on TikTok for the Pokemon Go community. He has over 11,000 followers on the platform and would go live each day to share his Pokemon Go finds.
Furthermore, Morganti has posted multiple clips from the game on this account, many of which have amassed tens of thousands of views.
Those who watched Morganti’s Pokemon Go streams quickly took to the internet to “raise awareness” and ensure his viewers stopped sending money to the streamer.
One Reddit user revealed, “I’m also from [Morganti’s] town, so I know [he] is the streamer.” They added that they “often saw him walking around the lake asking people to subscribe (donate) to get in the raids there.”
Another added, “Omfg, I literally just came across this guy on TikTok (and followed him) a few days ago! Time to go remove him.”
