PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Thousands of families counted on a St. Petersburg, Florida, nonprofit to safeguard money meant to provide for their disabled loved ones, but $100 million of that money is missing.
The FBI has now launched a criminal investigation.
Amparo Perales said she was told $2 million of her son’s money vanished, and she doesn’t know if he will ever get that money back. Now, with the FBI involved, Perales hopes federal investigators take swift action.
Perales said her son needs around the clock care.
“Our son Javier had a severe reaction,” Perales said. He had a vaccine injury at 6 months of age.”
It left Daniel with hundreds of seizures a day.
“For the first six years, he was in a wheelchair,” she said. “He was considered blind. They thought he would never be able to talk or walk, and that he would just not make it past the age of 6.”
Daniel’s family said they are blessed, as he turns 31 in October.
Back in 2001, he received a settlement through the vaccine injury compensation program. Perales said they counted on St. Petersburg’s Center for Special Needs Trust Administration to protect her son’s future. But in February, the center filed for bankruptcy and Perales was notified that $2 million of Javier Daniel’s money vanished from his trust.
“We’ve been with the Center for a long time, and we would’ve thought at this part of our lives that we could comfortably, aging get older and not worry about the care of our son, and it feels like we’re starting right from the beginning,” Perales said.
The center’s founder Leo Govoni stands accused of siphoning over $100 million in funds that were intended to help people with disabilities, but instead loaned it to other businesses under his control. Seven months later, Perales received a letter in the mail from a victim specialist with the FBI’s Tampa field office notifying her that her son is a possible victim of a federal crime.
“I’m very happy that it is going on, I wish it had been sooner,” Perales said. “There are 2,000 victims and I hope that the FBI, and anyone that’s involved in investigating this, will expedite this.”
The FBI told NewsNation affiliate WFLA “this is an ongoing criminal matter” and would not comment further.
“We were already victimized by the situation that we went through and here we are again being victimized again, so please expedite prosecuting who should be held accountable,” Perales said.
The FBI’s Victim Services Division is asking families if they have any information or if they believe they are a victim to complete the agency’s questionnaire: https://forms.fbi.gov/survey. The agency’s website said they may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information.
The FBI said if victims have any questions regarding the questionnaire or resources for victims, email CSNTvictims@fbi.gov.