ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Pinellas County judge has issued a temporary injunction to protect the assets of a Clearwater nonprofit. That’s after one of its leaders is accused of embezzling $100 million from another local nonprofit.
Back in February, the founder of The Center for Special Needs Trust was accused of taking $100 million dollars in a line of credit and never paying it back. A thousand beneficiaries from across the country have lost their money. Court records show that the Center filed for bankruptcy.
Now, in this new filing from Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office, they say the Directed Benefits Foundation “marketed itself as a business that would provide crucial trust services to some of this country’s most vulnerable populations."
It also says, "Instead of providing these services, the Foundation stole monies from these beneficiaries, many of whom were already the victims of at least one horrific event resulting in debilitating personal injury. As a result, the beneficiaries will not be able to supplement basic public assistance benefits and programs with their recovered monies, which are usually the result of extended civil litigation."
The courts have ruled in the attorney general’s favor and have signed an injunction to freeze all of the foundation's assets as this investigation continues.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed against Leo Govoni Jr. and others who ran the Center for Special Needs Trust in St. Petersburg.
Attorney Tom Leeder has filed a class action lawsuit in hopes of helping some of the families retain their missing funds.
"This lawsuit is just the first step. I have met and talked to well over 100 of the injured victims in this case, and some of these stories have been made public already through news stations like yours," Leeder said. "And they're incredible human beings, incredible people who struggled for years to receive a resolution to their case that was meant to last for the rest of their lives, and only have that taken away by the people who were put in place to protect it.”
The Attorney General’s Office says they are taking action to ensure the foundation is acting in the interest of beneficiaries and not unlawfully diverting funds.