佛州特殊需求信托创始人被控窃取逾1亿美元受益人资金
美国司法部佛罗里达中区联邦检察官办公室2025年6月23日宣布解封一份起诉书，指控佛罗里达州皮内拉斯县 Clearwater 的 Leo Joseph Govoni 与希尔斯伯勒县坦帕市的 John Leo Witeck 合谋窃取逾1亿美元，并最终拖垮一家为弱势特殊需求人士管理资金的非营利机构。涉案机构是位于皮内拉斯县的特殊需求信托管理中心（Center for Special Needs Trust Administration，简称 CSNT）。
起诉书称，两人被控一项共谋电信与邮件欺诈、三项邮件欺诈、六项电信欺诈与一项共谋洗钱；Govoni 另被单独指控一项银行欺诈、一项非法货币交易与一项作虚假破产申报。量刑上限方面，银行欺诈最高30年，电信与邮件欺诈及相关共谋每项最高20年，非法货币交易最高10年，虚假破产申报最高5年。
据起诉书与法庭文件，Govoni 约在2000年共同创办 CSNT，该机构为残障与其他特殊需求人士管理资金，包括他们获得的和解金与法院判付款，一度是全美最大的特殊需求信托管理机构之一，受益人遍布佛罗里达州与全美。截至2024年2月，CSNT 管理逾2,100个特殊需求信托、资产约2亿美元。检方指称，2009年6月至2025年5月间，Govoni、Witeck 与同谋把受益人资金当作供自己挥霍的私囊，通过复杂金融交易与欺骗手法掩盖，包括向残障受害者及其家人寄送余额造假的账户报表；Govoni 被指用窃得的钱买房地产、乘私人飞机出行、资助一家啤酒厂、存入个人银行账户并偿还个人债务。2024年2月，CSNT 申请破产，披露其信托账户逾1亿美元受益人资金去向不明。Govoni 还被指涉及一笔300万美元按揭再融资贷款的银行欺诈，并把其中205,054美元赃款洗白用于偿还其住所的房屋净值信用额度。
联邦检察官 Gregory W. Kehoe 表示，保护社会最弱势成员是该办公室的优先事项，这宗全国性骗局的欺诈规模令人难以想像。国税局刑事调查局局长 Guy Ficco、联邦调查局刑事调查部助理局长 Jose A. Perez 与卫生与公众服务部监察长办公室官员也分别表态。本案由国税局刑事调查局、联邦调查局、卫生与公众服务部监察长办公室与社会保障署监察长办公室共同调查，由联邦助理检察官 Jennifer Peresie、Michael Gordon 与司法部刑事司欺诈科审判律师 Lyndie Freeman 承办起诉。检方提醒，起诉书只是正式指控，被告在被证明有罪之前推定无罪。
（来源：美国司法部佛罗里达中区联邦检察官办公室）
Florida Special Needs Trust Founder Charged with Stealing Over $100 Million from Beneficiaries
On June 23, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Leo Joseph Govoni of Clearwater, in Pinellas County, Florida, and John Leo Witeck of Tampa with stealing more than $100 million from, and ultimately bankrupting, a nonprofit organization that managed funds for vulnerable individuals with special needs and disabilities. The organization was the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration (CSNT).
Govoni and Witeck are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, three counts of mail fraud, six counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Govoni is also charged separately with one count of bank fraud, one count of illegal monetary transaction, and one count of making a false bankruptcy declaration. The bank fraud offense carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison; each wire fraud, mail fraud, and related conspiracy count carries a maximum of 20 years; the illegal monetary transaction count carries 10 years; and the false bankruptcy declaration carries 5 years.
According to the indictment and court documents, Govoni co-founded CSNT around 2000. The nonprofit managed funds for individuals with disabilities and other special needs, including settlements and court awards, and grew to be one of the largest administrators of special needs trusts in the country, with beneficiaries in Florida and nationwide. As of February 2024, CSNT managed more than 2,100 special needs trusts containing approximately $200 million in assets. From June 2009 through May 2025, Govoni, Witeck, and their co-conspirators allegedly solicited, stole, and misappropriated client-beneficiary funds, treating them as a slush fund to enrich themselves and others, and concealed the scheme through complex financial transactions and deceit, including sending fraudulent account statements with false balances to disabled victims and their families. 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 debts. In February 2024, CSNT filed for bankruptcy and disclosed that more than $100 million in client-beneficiary funds was missing from its trust accounts. Govoni is also charged with bank fraud related to a $3 million mortgage refinance loan and the alleged laundering of $205,054 to pay off a home equity line of credit on his residence.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe said protecting the most vulnerable members of society is a priority of his office and called the fraud alleged in the nationwide scheme unfathomable. Statements were also issued by IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco, FBI Assistant Director Jose A. Perez, and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the HHS Office of Inspector General. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the HHS Office of Inspector General, and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Peresie and Michael Gordon and Justice Department Trial Attorney Lyndie Freeman of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section. Prosecutors noted that an indictment is merely a formal charge and that every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
(Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida)
来源：美国司法部佛罗里达中区联邦检察官办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于佛罗里达州希尔斯伯勒县坦帕市的 Sam M. Gibbons 联邦法院大楼，本案在此所属的佛罗里达中区联邦法院审理。Ebyabe 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, in the Middle District of Florida, where the case is being heard. Photo by Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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