Two Florida men have been indicted in what prosecutors describe as a scheme to steal more than $100 million from a nonprofit that managed funds for people with disabilities and special needs.
Federal authorities this week unsealed an indictment charging Leo J. Govoni, 67, of Clearwater, and John Witeck, 60, of Tampa, with multiple counts including mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts, they face decades in prison.
The case involves one of the nation’s largest administrators of special needs trusts, which are designed to manage funds for people with special needs.
The Center for Special Needs Trust Administration in Clearwater, which Govoni cofounded 25 years ago, managed more than 2,000 accounts containing about $200 million for people in Florida and around the nation. Clients were promised that the nonprofit would protect and invest their money, prosecutors say.
But Govoni and Witeck, an accountant who worked with Govoni, used the nonprofit as a “slush fund” to enrich themselves, court papers state.
Govoni is accused of using money from the nonprofit to travel on private jets, pay living expenses for his friends and family and live a lavish lifestyle “complete with luxury boxes at Tampa Bay Buccaneers games and the Kentucky Derby,” prosecutors said in court records.
No lawyers for Govoni or Witeck are listed in court files of the current case.
Paul Sisco, a Tampa lawyer who has represented Govoni in the past, said “there is a presumption of innocence which none of us should ever lose sight of here.”
“In nearly two decades of knowing Mr. Govoni, I have never sensed any inkling of guile,” Sisco said.
Sisco is handling some issues regarding Govoni’s bond and detention. He declined to discuss details of that ahead of a Thursday hearing, when those issues are expected to be addressed in court.
Prosecutors accuse the men of concealing the fraud through complex financial transactions, and sending fraudulent account statements with false balances to people with special needs and their families.
The nonprofit filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and “disclosed that more than $100 million in client-beneficiary funds was missing from its trust accounts,” federal prosecutors said in a statement announcing the indictment.
“The fraud alleged in this nationwide scheme is unfathomable,” U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said in the statement.
The case was investigated by numerous federal agencies, including the FBI, the IRS and the Social Security Administration.
“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,” said Jose Perez, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.