MARBLEHEAD, Mass. / DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Massachusetts man accused of defrauding students, parents, and faculty members through a school travel scam has been arrested in California.
Robert Safford Goodwin, 56, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, ran a travel business, Stone & Compass, Inc., which offered to organize a 2024 student trip to Italy and Greece. The company collected at least $3,550 from each participant. About a month before the scheduled trip, Goodwin notified Seabreeze High School that the trip was canceled and failed to return the money to more than 40 students and faculty members, according to a complaint filed by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
Earlier this year, Volusia County authorities issued an arrest warrant for Goodwin on four felony charges: two counts of money laundering over $100,000 and two counts of organized scheme to defraud greater than $50,000.
Goodwin was booked into the Ventura County Jail on Wednesday, Dec. 10, and is expected to be extradited to Florida to face criminal charges. He has a court date in Ventura County Superior Court on Jan. 23, 2026. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that students and parents who lost money will be invited to meet Goodwin at the airport upon his arrival.
Authorities allege that Goodwin defrauded 104 students and chaperones of approximately $400,000 in connection with trips for Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach. The travel packages were sold through Stone & Compass, Inc., for a foreign study program in Italy and Greece scheduled for June 13–26, 2024. The Florida Attorney General also reported that 43 Seabreeze High consumers lost nearly $182,000.
Goodwin is accused of violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, engaging in “deceptive business practices” that impacted both Seabreeze High and Flagler College in St. Augustine. Flagler College students and faculty lost nearly $617,000, having paid between $2,800 and $5,000 for faculty-led trips to destinations including Brazil, Cambodia, England, Nantucket, Scotland, Sicily, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Greece, and Zanzibar. According to the complaint, Flagler College participants were notified three days prior to departure that their trips were canceled, and requests for refunds went unheeded.
In total, Goodwin and Stone & Compass, Inc., could face civil penalties exceeding $1.8 million, along with nearly $800,000 in restitution. Flagler College also filed a separate lawsuit in 2024 for breach of contract, seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
Several creditors have filed liens against Goodwin with the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, underscoring the financial impact of his alleged fraudulent activities.
