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Mass. travel agent accused of defrauding Florida students out of $400K arrested
The man allegedly told students his travel agency was going out of business and had no money to offer refunds one month before the trip.
A Marblehead man was arrested Friday in California after allegedly defrauding more than 100 high school students and chaperones in Florida out of $400,000, authorities said.
Robert Goodwin, 56, owner of Stone & Compass travel agency, is facing two counts of grand theft and two counts of organized scheme to defraud, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 30 press release. His bond is set at $4 million.
Goodwin allegedly defrauded 104 students and chaperones at Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, Fla., for an international trip that was cancelled without refunds, according to the sheriff’s office. In 2023, the group signed up with Goodwin’s travel agency for a nine-day class trip to Italy and Greece set for June 2024.
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One month before the trip, the agency told the students it was going out of business and had no money to offer refunds, authorities said. The agency’s website went down a short time after, and its contact phone numbers and email addresses became inactive.
Each traveler in the group had paid a minimum of $3,550 in travel fees for airfare, lodging, and excursions, according to the sheriff’s office. Detectives in Florida began investigating Stone & Compass in May 2024 after the case was referred to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators discovered that the agency was being sued by “numerous other organizations” for similar allegations, including Flagler College, a private liberal arts school in St. Augustine, Fla. The sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Goodwin’s arrest in September, prior to his arrest Friday.
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Goodwin is in custody in California pending extradition to Volusia County, the sheriff’s office said on Facebook. Students and parents who lost money will be invited to meet him with Sheriff Mike Chitwood upon his arrival at the airport.
“On behalf of so many Volusia County families, I want to say THANK YOU to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Ventura County Sheriff’s Office for their expertise and assistance in arresting Robert Goodwin so we can make him answer for his crimes,” Chitwood said on Facebook. “You may be operating out of Massachusetts with victims in Florida and a hideout in California, but this just goes to show that law enforcement can and will work together to track you down and lock you up.”
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