High school students and chaperones scammed out of $400K field trip, FL cops say

A high school field trip to the Mediterranean devolved into a financial nightmare after a travel agent is accused of making off with $400,000 paid in advance by high school students and their chaperones, Florida investigators say.

The victims include 104 Seabreeze High School students and their chaperones, who have been fighting for refunds since 2023, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 30 news release. The school is located in Daytona Beach.

Volusia County detectives began investigating accusations of fraud against Stone and Compass Travel in May 2024, officials said.

“In 2023, the group of students and chaperones signed up with the agency for a 9-day class trip to Italy and Greece which was to begin in June of 2024. Each traveler paid a minimum of $3,550 in travel fees that included airfare, lodging and excursions,” the sheriff’s office said in a Sept. 30 news release.

“One month before the trip, the agency emailed the students it was going out of business and there was no money to offer refunds. Shortly after, the agency’s website went down, and all previous contact phone numbers and email addressed were inactive.”

An investigation revealed the agency faces lawsuits filed by “numerous other organizations for similar allegations,” officials said. Among those organizations is Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, the sheriff’s office said.

The travel agency is based in Massachusetts and the owner has been identified as 56-year-old Robert Goodwin, the sheriff’s office said.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Goodwin on “two counts of grand theft (over $100K) and two counts of organized scheme to defraud (over $50K). His bond is set at $4 million.”

Daytona Beach is about a 55-mile drive northeast from Orlando.

This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 9:53 AM with the headline "High school students and chaperones scammed out of $400K field trip, FL cops say."