BOURUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A man who owns a travel agent has been accused of scaming more than 100 Florida students out of the $400,000, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office has announced.
After 104 Seabreeze High School students and chaperone were scamled from $400,000, detectives issued a warrant to Robert Goodwin, 56, the owner of a Massachusetts travel agency. VSO said.
After international travel was cancelled without a refund, an investigation into Stone and Compass Travel began in May 2024, and the state’s attorney’s office introduced the case to VSO.
Students and Chaperones signed up for an agency in 2023 for a nine-day class trip to Italy and Greece. This was not a school sponsored trip.
According to the VSO, each traveler paid a travel fee of a minimum of $3,550, including airfares, accommodation and excursions.
The trip was supposed to start in June 2024, but a month before the trip, the agency emailed students that it was out of business and had no money to offer a refund.
Immediately after the email, the website went down and all phone numbers and email addresses were inactive.
According to the VSO, the investigation revealed that the agency has been sued by many other organisations for similar allegations, including Flagler College in St. Augustine.
Goodwin faces two grand thefts and two organized schemes for fraud. His bonds are set at $4 million.
