St. Pete Non-Profit Responds To Missing $100 Million
A non-profit organization in Tampa, FL, entrusted with managing trust funds for individuals with catastrophic personal injuries, is facing financial chaos. The founder, Leo Govoni, who had stepped down from the board in 2009, is accused of loaning himself $100 million from the funds and failing to repay it. This revelation came to light in 2023, when the new leadership at the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration discovered that the funds had been depleted. It is estimated that as many as 1,000 individuals may be affected by this misappropriation of funds.
One such individual is Elena, who has downs syndrome and had $250,000 in a trust account managed by the non-profit. Her father, Louis Capasso, received a letter in the mail informing him that the account had been emptied. He, along with many other families, were told that there was little chance of recovering the missing funds. The bankruptcy filing by the center has revealed that the missing amount might be as much as $100 million, which was loaned to a company controlled by Govoni and his associates.
The new leadership at the center, which took over two years ago, discovered the loan and attempts were made to recover the money. However, the loan was supposed to be repaid, yet the company continued to draw funds beyond the deadline. This led to the bankruptcy filing. When asked how they discovered the missing funds, the spokesperson for the center, Beth Leythem, mentioned that the daughter of Govoni, Caitlin Janicki, had left behind an unsigned letter in November 2021, before her resignation as the center’s vice president in April 2022.
The center is currently pursuing all legal options to recover the money and has contacted law enforcement for assistance. However, it is unclear when and which agency was notified about the missing funds. 8 On Your Side, the investigative team, is also attempting to uncover more details, such as the whereabouts of Govoni and the loan documents. Amidst this chaos, the families affected are struggling to come to terms with the fact that the person they trusted has not only embezzled money but also showed no regard for the well-being of those he had promised to protect. The center insists that they are doing everything in their power to recover the funds and return it to its rightful owners.
I get a letter in the mail saying the account has been depleted,” said Louis Capasso, Elena’s dad. “There’s nothing left in there.”
Capasso said his daughter Elena, who has downs syndrome, had $250,000 in a trust account managed by the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration. Every penny he says is gone.
“They don’t see you getting the money back they said,” said Capasso.
His case is far from the only one. According to the centers Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, we’ve discovered there could be as many as 1,000 people who are missing some or all of their trust money. Investigator Brittany Muller went to speak to the non-profits’ spokesperson, Beth Leythem.
“When something had happened how much money was missing?”
“The amount that we know right now is $100 million,” Leytham said.
“They begin pulling on threads while they still managed the trust fund trying to figure out what it happened here, where has this money gone?” Leytham said.“They contacted the law firms and said we haven’t been able to figure this out internally, we would like you to help us figure it out,” she said.
“He didn’t even care it was kids that he was stealing from,” Capasso said. “That’s what makes it so bad.”
“I would tell them that we are doing everything we possibly can to get that money back where it belongs with them,” Leytham said. “Every legal remedy available to us we are accessing it we are pursuing it.”
