Janelle Irwin Taylor
Leo Govoni Jr., co-owner of the craft brewery Big Storm, still owes more than $122 million to The Center for Special Needs Trust Administration he founded, according to a motion filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of Florida Tampa Division last week.
The motion, filed by Michael Goldberg as the Chapter 11 Trustee for the estate of The Center for Special Needs Trust Administration against Govoni and his Boston Finance Group LLC, supports a summary judgment in the bankruptcy case at the center of an ongoing investigation into missing funds.
At issue is $142 million in missing benefits for disabled people the special needs trust was supposed to administer. Govoni has been accused of using more than $100 million of the nonprofit’s funds to loan other businesses under his control. The organization filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 9. It had been holding funds in trusts for disabled people for nearly a quarter century.
Attorney General Ashley Moody is suing Govoni and other defendants over the accusation they stole money from beneficiaries, “many of whom were already the victims of at least one horrific event resulting in debilitating personal injury,” according to her lawsuit.
As part of Govoni’s bankruptcy proceedings, he claims he owes $30 million. The latest motion supporting summary judgment in the higher $122 million amount refutes Govoni’s math as “a self-serving and vague declaration” based on what Govoni “thinks he remembers interest payments to have been.”
The motion argues Govoni provided no evidence to support his calculation of balance owed and provides information from a forensic accounting of the foundation and Govoni’s own books.
“Records of the Debtor (Govoni) and BFG (Boston Finance Group) have recently been made available to Kevin McCoy of KapilaMukamal, the estate’s forensic accountant; and they show that there is no genuine issue of material fact in this case,” the motion reads. “As described below, summary judgment should be entered against the Defendants — and the Govoni Declaration should be disregarded — for at least three reasons.”
Those reasons include a list of “undisputed material facts,” a forensic analysis supporting the $122 million figure over Govoni’s $30 million assertion, and as a matter of law.
The motion cites data from software used by Govoni and Boston Finance Group showing “a ‘Loan Payable’ on its balance sheet that was $122,582,771 as of June 8, 2023.” It further notes cash transfers totaling nearly $100 million “between May 2010 and February 2024.” The forensic analysis “also identified $18,869,432 in transfers from BFG to the Center, resulting in a net amount of cash transfers of $88,065,957.” Combined with more than $32 million in accrued interest, the motion finds that Govoni and his LLC owe more than $120 million.
“Neither of the Defendants has offered any specific accounting to refute the amounts” calculated in the forensic analysis, the motion notes.
Under matter of law, the motion argues “the motion cannot be overcome by Mr. Govoni’s self-serving, vague declaration that contradicts all of the record evidence in the case.” His declaration should be disregarded, as the motion notes, “because it is based on rank speculation and contradicted by the records of two companies that were under (Govoni’s) control.”
It claims Govoni is asking “the Court to reverse-engineer a loan balance by reviewing bare allegations of interest payments” without providing “evidence of those payments or even (identifying) them with any particularity.”
The motion further claims that Govoni “assumes” Boston Finance Group made interest payments it was required to make, “when in reality, BFG often missed interest payments that were due.”
“The case law is clear that a borrower’s speculation or conjecture as to the amount owed does not create a genuine issue of material fact,” the motion reads.
The motion is the latest line of trouble for Govoni and his interests. Last week, Govoni’s son, LJ Govoni, stepped down as President of Big Storm Brewing, which has taken a huge hit amid the elder Govoni’s legal woes.
A criminal investigation into the missing funds at issue is ongoing by the FBI. Big Storm was once one of the state’s largest breweries, with tap rooms in Cape Coral, Odessa, Orlando, Ybor City and its flagship location on 49th Street in Pinellas County. Now, that flagship location is the last remaining.
Govoni and Big Storm are also facing several lawsuits from landlords who say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
In July, a defendant in the lawsuit from Moody’s Office, reached a deal with plaintiffs. Karen Fisher, who served as the Director and Secretary of the special needs trust, agreed to fully cooperate with officials in the ongoing investigation in return for suspending a $10,000 fine against her in the case.
