FLORIDA – The Department of Justice recently announced that two men from Florida are under investigation for allegedly stealing over $100 million from a nonprofit that served people with special needs and disabilities to live a lifestyle including lavish homes, traveling by private jet, and even funding a brewery.
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According to unsealed court documents, Leo Joseph Govoni, 67, of Clearwater, and John Leo Witeck, 60, of Tampa, solicited, stole, and misappropriated funds from the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration (CSNT), a nonprofit they co-founded, from 2009 to 2025.
The goal of CSNT was to manage money for people with disabilities and other special needs, and became one of the largest administrators of special needs trusts in the country, the DOJ states.
As of February 2024, the nonprofit managed over 2,100 special needs trusts totaling about $200 million.
The indictment alleges that Govoni, Witeck and others essentially treated CSNT as a slush fund to conceal their illegal activities through fraudulent activity and “complex financial transactions and deceit,” like sending fake account statements with false balances to disabled victims.
"Govoni allegedly used stolen money to purchase real estate, travel via private jet, fund a brewery, make deposits into his personal bank accounts, and pay personal debts," the DOJ said. "Separately, Govoni is also alleged to have committed bank fraud related to a $3 million mortgage refinance loan and to have laundered $205,054 of the proceeds to pay off a home equity line of credit on his residence."
Additionally, in 2024, CSNT filed for bankruptcy and stated that more than $100 million in funds had gone missing from its managed trust accounts. Govoni is believed to have made the false claims of bankruptcy.
U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Gregory Kehoe called the alleged fraud’s magnitude “unfathomable,” while Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco of the IRS called it “deeply troubling.”
“Stealing funds intended to protect and support people with special needs is as cruel as it is criminal,” Ficco said.
They are both being charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. The DOJ said additional charges of bank fraud, illegal monetary transactions, and false bankruptcy declarations were also levied upon Govoni.
