Marblehead resident Robert Goodwin has been arrested in California and charged with defrauding more than 100 Florida high school students and chaperones out of $400,000, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department. Goodwin will be extradited to Florida.
“Students and parents who lost money will be invited to meet him at the airport with Sheriff (Mike) Chitwood,” according to the department’s Facebook page.
Goodwin and his travel agency, Stone & Compass, are accused of defrauding 104 high school students and chaperones in Volusia County out of $400,000 for an international trip that was canceled without refunds.
Goodwin faces four counts, including grand theft and scheme to defraud. His bond was set at $4 million.
“After a lengthy multi-agency investigation, we found irrefutable proof that he (Goodwin) was involved in a large, organized scheme to defraud not only Seabreeze High School but also Flagler College,” Volusia County Detective Bill Weaver told the Current in September.
A September press release explained that the charges stem from a nine-day class trip to Italy and Greece, which was to begin in June 2024. Each traveler paid a minimum of $3,550 in travel fees that included airfare, lodging and excursions, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
“One month before the trip, the agency emailed the students (saying) it was going out of business and there was no money to offer refunds,” the press release stated. “Shortly after, the agency’s website went down and all previous contact phone numbers and email addresses were inactive. The investigation revealed the agency was being sued by numerous other organizations for similar allegations to include Flagler College in St. Augustine.”
The Current reported earlier that Goodwin and Stone & Compass are named in a complaint filed by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, which alleges they violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The AG is asking a judge to order Goodwin to pay $2.6 million in restitution and civil penalties and ban him from doing business in Florida.
Spring of 2024
In the spring of 2024, Stone & Compass abruptly canceled trips for hundreds of students and adults around the country, in some cases mere days before the trips were set to depart. Goodwin told the Current that the cancellations were necessary after Stone & Compass was defrauded out of nearly $900,000 by two New York financial institutions.
In the Florida AG’s complaint, Goodwin and Stone & Compass are accused of “deceptive business practices as it relates to marketing, selling, offering, providing or accepting payment for group travel services to students, parents and/or faculty members at Seabreeze High School in Volusia County, Florida, and Flagler College in St. Johns County, Florida.”
The AG’s complaint alleges Goodwin owes $181,800 to 43 consumers at Seabreeze High School.
“Each participant paid $3,550 for the base package and additional costs for any desired upgrades,” the complaint states. “On May 9, 2024, approximately 4 1/2 weeks prior to the date that the consumers were scheduled to depart for their foreign study program, defendants notified a representative of Seabreeze High School via electronic email that their group tour had been canceled. The Seabreeze High School consumers repeatedly requested that defendants refund the payment that they had made for the canceled foreign study program trip. However, defendants have failed to do so.”
This is a developing story. Stay with the Current.
