A federal judge ruled that he was accused of receiving $100 million from medical trust funds and receiving $100 million in court records would not face criminal contradiction proceedings on his failure to prepare financial records.
However, federal bankruptcy judge Roberta Colton fined Leo Govoni almost $300,000 in an order issued Thursday. It stems from the discovery of her civil empt in May, when she issued a $5,000 fine for every day violating court orders to take over personal and business documents.
The fine includes approximately $98,000 for additional costs incurred by bankruptcy officers and lawyers seeking to recover Govoni’s assets for the disabled and injured people who were attacked by the Trust Fund.
“It was a slow, torture process,” Colton wrote in her order. “It’s enough to say that all the documents created in March have not been produced.”
The order gives Govoni a payment for 45 days, but it is unclear whether he can comply.
Colton in February determined he was responsible for his missing money and additional $20 million in interest.
She said the decision not to pursue criminal comment charges was due to the subsequent transfer of ownership of more than 120 Gobony companies to bankruptcy property.
This should allow bankruptcy lawyers to resolve ownership issues and sell the assets of those companies regardless of Gobony’s papers, she said.
“The court is focused on collecting money as quickly as possible for the victims of these unfolding travelie,” Colton said in an order.
The Centre Centre Centre Centre is a St. Petersburg nonprofit founded by Govoni to administer the Trust Fund in February 2024 and filed either a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in February 2024 after discovering that $100 million had been collected from more than 1,500 trust funds. The funds had been transferred to Govoni’s Boston Finance Group for about a decade, court records say.
The money was never paid back, and hundreds of injured and disabled trust fund holders have no money for medical and living expenses.
The forensic accountant’s report shows that the trust fund money was wired to the Boston Finance Group in Govoni, and it was distributed to around 12 other companies he owns. This includes $16 million sent to Big Storm Brewing, a craft beer company that ran with his son LJ Govoni.
Govoni has not been charged with a crime, but is under investigation by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Michael Goldberg, an attorney appointed by Colton as a bankruptcy councillor.
