A Las Vegas woman who raised over $233,000 on GoFundMe to avoid getting evicted after she was interviewed on CNN, her fundraiser and story went viral. Dasha Kelly alleged she was the mother of three girls 5, 6, and 8 during her interview and on the GoFundMe fundraiser description. Kelly later admitted the children in the story were not her biological children. Now she is being blocked from getting any of the money thanks to a Las Vegas judge. A lawsuit filed by the biological mother of the girls leaves all the money raised in limbo.

On Aug. 23, 2021, a judge heard arguments for Hilo’s lawsuit, which asked the court to freeze the money raised on the GoFundMe page until the case is settled.  Court documents from Hilo’s says Kelly “exploited the children for financial gain in a fraudulent fundraising scheme.”

“The judge decided, at least based on what he had seen in the case so far, we had a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, and that it would be fair and equitable to lock the money up so the kids don’t have it, Ms. Kelly doesn’t have it. The money is just sitting right where it was until further action by the court,” Randazza said.

Randazza reached out to GoFundMe about the claims, the fundraising company gave donors a few days to seek a refund. Kelly’s GoFundMe amount went from more than $233,000 to a little more than $162,000.

After taking the matter before a judge, Randazza says he and Hilo offered to split the money four ways between Kelly and each of the three girls leaving them with a quarter of the money each. Randazza says Kelly didn’t agree with the proposal. Hilo is a mother of eight children and “not wealthy… so [the money if awarded] will not simply go buy her another sports car,” Randazza said.

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