Clearwater, Florida-based Big Storm Brewery is in the crosshairs of two different legal battles, one accusing the company of embezzlement and money laundering from an organization that has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Big Storm investor Dr. David Wenk filed a lawsuit this month against the brewery, its parent company Seaboard Craft Beer Holdings and co-founder Leo John (LJ) Govoni. Wenk, who met Govoni as fellow Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ticket holders, invested $3 million in exchange for a 7.5% share of the company.
Wenk claimed he was told his investment was to fund an “upscale steakhouse and spirits room” at Big Storm’s Clearwater facility, but this was a “misrepresentation” by Govoni, according to Wenk’s complaint.
In his complaint, Wenk accused Big Storm of laundering more than $4 million from the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration (SNT), information that began to come to light when SNT filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2024.
Wenk filed his lawsuit in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit for Pinellas County on June 5, and Big Storm, Seaboard Craft Beer Holdings and Wenk were issued subpoenas on June 11 to provide information to SNT chapter 11 trustee Michael Goldberg.
The connection between SNT and Big Storm appears to be Leo Joseph Govoni, LJ Govoni’s father. The elder Govoni founded SNT, which manages trust funds for people with disabilities, and is accused of directing $100 million from it in the form of undisclosed loans to his other businesses, primarily the Boston Finance Group.
Big Storm was not named among the entities receiving loans, but a review of Big Storm’s financial records performed by Wenk’s lawyer Drew Patterson found that the brewery had received more than $4.1 million from the SNT between January 2022 and April 2024, according to the complaint.
“The documents provided revealed that the Govonis, through Big Storm, engaged in a criminal enterprise involving the theft, embezzlement, and laundering of millions of dollars directly from the Special Needs Trust without the cover of formal loan agreements,” Wenk’s complaint read.
Wenk alleged that “Big Storm served as a means for the Govonis to illegally divert and cleanse funds from the Special Needs Trust.”
“There is no conceivable or legal explanation why Big Storm, a craft brewing company, would be receiving millions of dollars in remote deposits from the non-profit Special Needs Trust, founded for people with disabilities,” Wenk’s complaint read.
A Big Storm spokesperson provided a statement from LJ Govoni stating that the lawsuit’s claims “are entirely false, baseless, and lack any factual foundation and are designed solely to tarnish my reputation and embarrass my family.”
“Mr. Wenk knows full well that I have absolutely nothing to do with the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration,” he continued. “I want to make it unequivocally clear that I have never engaged in any fraudulent activities or wrongdoing as alleged. These accusations are not only unfounded but also defamatory, and I am committed to fighting them vigorously.
“In response to this malicious attack on my character, I intend to take immediate legal action against Mr. Wenk and his associates. While the law affords a plaintiff the right to allege wrongdoings, it does not allow them the right to their own fictious [sic] facts. The basis of Mr. Wenk’s lawsuit contradicts documents he himself signed stating his accreditation, sophistication, and the due diligence he performed on this investment. For him and his counsel to assert otherwise is nothing short of a bald-faced lie.
“I will not allow attacks on my character to go unchallenged and will pursue all available legal remedies.”
Earlier this month, Big Storm announced the impending closure of its Ybor City taproom, which will shutter on June 16. The brewery was facing eviction by its landlord Third Lake Partners, to whom it owes $387,770.82 in back rent, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Big Storm’s volume declined -2%, to an estimated 7,431 barrels of beer, in 2023, according to the Brewers Association’s May/June issue of New Brewer Magazine.