Florida Men Accused of Stealing More Than $100 Million Meant for People With Special Needs

Twenty-five years ago, Leo J. Govoni of Clearwater, Fla., co-founded a nonprofit organization meant to help people with special needs manage their funds. But he and an accountant were using it as a “personal piggy bank” to steal more than $100 million, federal prosecutors said on Monday.

Mr. Govoni is accused of using some of the money to fund a brewery, to travel by private jet, to buy real estate and to pay personal debts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday, Mr. Govoni, 67, and the accountant, John L. Witeck, 60, Tampa, Fla., were each 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.

Mr. Govoni was also charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of illegal monetary transactions and one count of making a false bankruptcy declaration. Court documents say others were also involved in the scheme.

Big Storm Brewery in Clearwater, Fla., received the stolen money to cover operating and expansion costs, according to the indictment. Mr. Govoni and some of the others controlled a small aviation company that had at least one private jet and that was funded by stolen money, court records said.

Prosecutors said Mr. Govoni had taken out a $3 million mortgage refinance loan and laundered about $205,000 in fraud proceeds to pay off a home equity line of credit on his residence.