Forensic accountants needed for trust that lost $100M for people with special needs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — $100 million is missing from a St. Petersburg nonprofit, and 8 On Your Side has continued to follow the story.

 The founder of the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration is accused of taking money from vulnerable people’s trusts and not repaying it.

A federal judge has appointed a Chapter 11 trustee to manage the center’s operations after the center’s board resigned two weeks ago.

The trustee’s name is attorney Michael Goldberg of Ackerman Law. According to the firm’s website, Goldberg chairs his firms Fraud and Recovery Practice, which is focused on “unraveling high-profile investor fraud, including Ponzi schemes.”

In one of his Goldberg’s first moves as trustee, he’s filed a motion asking a federal judge to hire a independent forensic accounting firm named KapilaMukamal or KM. The motion said KM was chosen by Goldberg because of its “considerable expertise in the fields of bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganizations, liquidations, debt restructuring and corporate reorganizations, particularly in the context of potentially fraudulent schemes as alleged by certain parties in this bankruptcy case.”

There is an initial status conference hearing at the federal courthouse in downtown Tampa on Thursday afternoon. Investigator Brittany Muller will be in the courtroom to share updates.