State Senator on missing $100M from trust fund: ‘We are going to explore legislation’

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A state legislator is calling for answers after an 8 On Your Side investigation into the $100 million dollars missing from a St. Petersburg non-profit.

Sen. Geraldine Thompson is in a top position to do something about it.

The founder of the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration stands accused of taking, and not repaying, that money from vulnerable people.

It’s been nearly three months since these families had their worlds turned upside down.

“I really feel like there needs to be different laws put in place to protect the families,” said Tracey Lawrence, Jordan’s mom.

Lawrence’s son, Jordan, is one of hundreds whose special needs trust was mostly wiped out from the center.

“It starts with our city, it starts with our state all the way up,” said Nicalea Gonzalez, Amora’s mom. “Gov. DeSantis all the way to senators.”

Families, like the Gonzalez’s, gave the center money from large settlements to hold in trust for their loved ones and provide for their future care. But between 2009 and 2020, the bankruptcy filing shows that the center’s founder, Leo Govoni, loaned $100 million to his own company, Boston Finance Group. The Center says Govoni has not paid that money back.

“I was very disappointed and very disheartening that someone would take advantage of vulnerable people in this way,” Thompson said.

Thompson is the Vice Chair of the Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee. She said there needs to be regular reports on trust accounts.

“We are going to explore legislation to prevent this from happening because you’re talking about the lives of people who’ve had catastrophic injuries and now don’t have the funds to take care of their needs,” she said.

Thompson has read our reports and has seen the devastated families, including the Capassos.

“What’s going to happen down the line when the parents aren’t here no more to take care of the kids?” said Louis Capasso, Elena’s dad.

One of Govoni’s attorney’s filed loan paperwork as evidence in the class action lawsuit that his client is facing. It shows the board members who signed off approving the loan and it appears to be the documents that the center says it does not have. Thompson said this shows a long-term problem that the board was not providing oversight.

“The legislature is going to look into this,” she said. “We will be asking for in-depth investigation and for means to make these families whole.”

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