Twenty-five years ago, Leo J. Govoni of Clearwater, Fla., co-founded a nonprofit organization meant to help people with special needs manage their funds. But he and an accountant were using it as a “personal piggy bank” to steal more than $100 million, federal prosecutors said on Monday.
Mr. Govoni is accused of using some of the money to fund a brewery, to travel by private jet, to buy real estate and to pay personal debts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement.
In an indictment unsealed on Monday, Mr. Govoni, 67, and the accountant, John L. Witeck, 60, Tampa, Fla., were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, three counts of mail fraud, six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Mr. Govoni was also charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of illegal monetary transactions and one count of making a false bankruptcy declaration. Court documents say others were also involved in the scheme.
Big Storm Brewery in Clearwater, Fla., received the stolen money to cover operating and expansion costs, according to the indictment. Mr. Govoni and some of the others controlled a small aviation company that had at least one private jet and that was funded by stolen money, court records said.
Prosecutors said Mr. Govoni had taken out a $3 million mortgage refinance loan and laundered about $205,000 in fraud proceeds to pay off a home equity line of credit on his residence.
The theft eventually led the nonprofit, the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration, to declare bankruptcy, federal prosecutors said.
“The subjects charged are accused of creating a slush fund to divert millions of dollars away from a nonprofit organization helping people with special needs,” Jose A. Perez, the assistant director for the F.B.I.’s criminal investigation division, said in the statement. “Not only were the organization’s resources drained, but the accused subjects betrayed the trust of the community and ultimately bankrupted a lifeline for vulnerable families.”
The scheme stretched from 2009 to 2024, prosecutors said. The Center for Special Needs Trust Administration filed for bankruptcy in February 2024 and disclosed that more than $100 million had disappeared from trust accounts. The nonprofit managed settlements, court awards and other payment for people with disabilities and special needs, according to federal prosecutors.
The center was among the largest of its kind, serving more than 5,000 distinct clients during that 15-year span. At the time it filed for bankruptcy, the nonprofit oversaw more than 2,100 accounts containing over $200 million from people across the country, according to the federal indictment.
Mr. Govoni and Mr. Witeck hid the money with complex financial maneuvers, including sending fake account statements with misleading balances to the clients and their families, federal prosecutors said.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Govoni or Mr. Witeck had lawyers.
Each count of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The charge of illegal monetary transactions has a penalty of up to 10 years, and the false bankruptcy declaration charge carries up to five.
“The scale and audacity of the alleged fraud in this case are deeply troubling,” Guy Ficco, the criminal investigation chief for the I.R.S., said in a statement. “Stealing funds intended to protect and support people with special needs is as cruel as it is criminal.”
Mark Walker is an investigative reporter for The Times focused on transportation. He is based in Washington.
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