TAMPA, Fla. — For more than 15 years, hundreds of victims of car accidents, medical malpractice lawsuits and others trusted Leo Govoni to care for large sums of money they had battled for years to win in court.
He told them he would invest and grow their money. With his business accountant, John Witeck, he produced reassuring financial statements every year showing their money was safe.
But in reality, Govoni siphoned roughly $100 million from more than 1,500 trust funds and lived a lavish lifestyle that included a private jet and executive suites at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium and the Kentucky Derby, court records filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office show. When a client needed money for a medical expense, he would take it from someone else’s account in a Ponzi-like scheme.
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After a yearlong-plus investigation, FBI agents early Monday morning arrested Govoni in his Feather Sound home, neighbors said. They were awakened by agents shouting “FBI” through a bullhorn. Witeck was also arrested.
The pair face four counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Govoni faces additional charges of bank fraud, illegal monetary transactions and a false bankruptcy declaration.
If convicted of all charges, Govoni could face up to 30 years in prison, U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutor Michael Gordon said during Govoni’s bail hearing. Witeck’s maximum sentence would be 20 years.
A conviction could also result in Govoni’s wife and children losing their homes, which prosecutors say were partly or fully bought using stolen funds and could be taken in forfeiture.
“(They) perpetrated a massive fraud scheme to steal critical financial resources from some of our most — society’s most vulnerable victims, both physically and mentally disabled, many of them children,” Greg Kehoe, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said during a press conference to announce the indictment.
Dressed in a faded Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup champions T-shirt and sweatpants, Govoni was shackled when he appeared in federal court Monday afternoon for a first appearance. He looked across the courtroom to the public benches where his wife, Jane Govoni, and daughter, Caitlin Janicki, sat.
Govoni pressed his shackled hands to his mouth and then gestured toward them.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office described Govoni as presenting a “substantial risk of flight” and asked that bail be set at $1 million, that he surrender his passport and be subject to location monitoring.
“He treated people with mental and physical disabilities as marks. He took advantage of children,” a motion filed by prosecutors stated. “He victimized some of the most vulnerable people in society, people who had already suffered unfathomable tragedies and difficulties in their lives.”
Federal Judge Amanda Sansone said she was surprised that prosecutors weren’t asking for more stringent bail conditions and scheduled a detention hearing for Thursday. She ruled that Govoni will remain incarcerated until then.
More than $850,000 is missing from the trust fund set up for Cape Coral resident Kienan Freeman, who has developmental delay. He suffered severe seizures after receiving a vaccine when he was 18 months old that affected his development. He relies on a wheelchair and has limited verbal skills.
His mother, Rebekah Bowman, said that it had been a long wait to learn that someone might be held responsible for the crime.
“I just felt like the victims in this case ultimately feel some relief knowing he’s been arrested,” she said. “We’ve put our faith in the justice system, and we’re finally seeing something happen.”
Kehoe said there may be additional indictments to come. Govoni had personal and business attorneys who helped form the dozens of firms that he used to transfer stolen funds between. Janicki, his daughter, was employed by Govoni’s nonprofit until around 2020. And Govoni co-ran Big Storm Brewing with his son, LJ Govoni. The firm received stolen trust fund money, the indictment states.
Govoni’s arrest comes after bankruptcy courts stripped Govoni of ownership of more than 120 of his companies, including Big Storm. He was also found in contempt in civil court and fined $300,000 for not providing subpoenaed financial records.
In 2000, Govoni set up the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration, a St. Petersburg nonprofit that administered trust funds. He grew it into one of the nation’s largest special needs trust administrators, with more than 2,000 trusts from across the nation.
But it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2024 after officials found that $100 million had been taken from more than 1,500 trust funds as loans. The money had been transferred over roughly 10 years to Govoni’s Boston Finance Group, court records state.
It was never repaid, leaving hundreds of trust fund holders with injuries and disabilities with no money for medical and living expenses.
A forensic accountant’s report shows that trust fund money wired to Govoni’s Boston Finance Group was then distributed to roughly a dozen other companies that he owns. That includes $16 million that was sent to Big Storm Brewing.
In addition to a private jet, Govoni doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians.
Times Staff Writer Dan Sullivan contributed to this report.
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