Published Aug. 13|Updated Aug. 14
A Pinellas County judge on Monday agreed to unfreeze the bank accounts of a Clearwater businessperson accused of taking $2 million from trusts funds for the medically needy in exchange for him putting up money and property as collateral.
Judge Cynthia Newton agreed to amend an injunction placed on Leo Govoni’s assets after an agreement was reached between the Florida Attorney General’s Office and an attorney representing Govoni. It will allow 48 trust fund holders to access their money and the option to move it to a new trust administrator or bank account. It’s still unclear, however, how much money may be missing from their trust funds.
“As you could probably appreciate, there are some folks that would like to move on from this organization,” Nicholas Weilhammer, associate deputy attorney general, told the judge.
Govoni’s accounts and assets were frozen in May at the request of the state prosecutors after an investigation found that more than $2 million is missing from the accounts of the Directed Benefits Foundation, a nonprofit that Govoni founded.
The Clearwater businessperson is also named in federal bankruptcy records as having taken a $100 million unpaid loan from another nonprofit that managed trust funds. More than 1,500 trusts set up to pay for care for disabled and injured individuals are missing money, court records show.
Govoni has not been charged in either case although state prosecutors filed a civil complaint against him over the money missing from the foundation, accusing him of stealing from people already the victims of debilitating injuries.
No details were provided about how much collateral Govoni is providing during the seven-minute videoconference hearing Monday afternoon. Restrictions on the conduct of Govoni put in place in the original injunction remain in place, said Kylie Mason, a state attorney’s office spokesperson.
“The unfreezing of individual assets of the defendants will be replaced by a lien on several real estate parcels, the value of which replaces the assets taken from the beneficiaries,” she said.
The amended injunction will also unfreeze the bank accounts of Elizabeth Sauer, a business associate of Govoni’s who worked as the foundation’s director and president.
Tampa resident Neon Frazier was among those who placed money she was awarded through the courts into a trust fund managed by the foundation. She had received a settlement from a 2019 road accident that left her with a damaged spine.
She watched the hearing but is still concerned about who will have access to her money. She has struggled to pay for medical and other expenses without access to her trust fund.
“I haven’t had my medication in three months; I haven’t had a walker in a year,” she said.
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Explore all your optionsIt’s unclear if the money and properties offered by Govoni as collateral are the same assets being pursued by the trustee appointed by a federal judge to manage the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration.
A financial adviser, Govoni founded the St. Petersburg nonprofit in 2000 and grew it into one of the biggest trust fund administrators in the nation. He quit the organization in 2009 but retained control of it, court records state. Soon after, the nonprofit started a $2.5 million line of credit to his Boston Finance Group firm. The loan ballooned to $100 million within three years.
In the years that followed, Govoni bought a private jet worth roughly $3.4 million in 2014 and kept a pilot on staff for seven years, the Tampa Bay Times has found. He flew friends to his executive suite at the Kentucky Derby and donated more than $900,000 to politicians and political committees.
Along with his son, LJ Govoni, he also purchased Big Storm Brewing and made the firm one of the fastest-growing craft beer businesses in Florida. The business has struggled in the past year, closing five tap rooms since September.
The loan from the center was never repaid and only came to light because of some paperwork left behind by Govoni’s daughter when she quit her job as center vice president in 2022, according to bankruptcy records.
The center filed for bankruptcy in February. The court-appointed trustee is making claims on Govoni’s assets based on documents that state he would serve as guarantor of the loan.
