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The proprietor of a South Shore actual property agency allegedly siphoned off greater than $11.6 million from colleagues and shoppers to finance his playing, a Florida condo for $8,250 a month, and a ship that he continues to make funds on, courtroom information present.
Stephen D. Webster, who owned Success! Real Estate, faces 4 prices in Plymouth Superior Court: fiduciary embezzlement, larceny by scheme over $1,200, witness intimation, and submitting a false monetary assertion, authorized filings mentioned.
In papers filed in courtroom Wednesday, Plymouth Assistant Plymouth District Attorney Alex Zane alleged that Webster diverted the funds final yr, largely from an escrow account for actual property transactions, to finance an “extravagant lifestyle.”
“These funds covered payments on merchant cash advances, bank loans, credit cards, auto and motorsports financing, gambling expenditures, travel, dining, and family transfers,” he wrote in a abstract of the proof in opposition to Webster.
The alleged embezzlement compelled some clients to chop their sale costs to cowl the lacking funds and brought about others to bounce checks, prosecutors mentioned.
Webster was arrested as a fugitive from justice on Sept. 29 and is being held on the Palm Beach County Jail.
He is combating his return to Massachusetts and is anticipated to seem in a Florida courthouse on Tuesday, prosecutors mentioned.
An legal professional for Webster couldn’t be reached Thursday.
According to Zane’s 26-page submitting, Webster spent a number of days on the Encore Boston Harbor on line casino in Everett and was a frequent buyer of different casinos, together with one in Florida.
Last yr, Webster allegedly withdrew near $89,000 from on line casino ATMs, in response to courtroom information.
Among his different purchases was an $11,000 deposit on a 2025 BMW 430i, priced at $70,000, when he already owned two Tesla Model 3s valued at $121,000.
Webster abruptly closed his actual property agency in December, leaving his staff, brokers, and shoppers who had pending actual property transactions within the lurch, in response to courtroom information.
A torrent of civil litigation has been filed in opposition to Webster, and his ex-wife is searching for to implement the phrases of their divorce, which name for her to be paid $3,000 a month in alimony and $10,000 a month for maintenance of her South Shore dwelling, information present.
Webster owed brokers who labored with him a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} in unpaid commissions and loans, information present. Their losses are usually not a part of the prison case, prosecutors mentioned
According to courtroom information, Webster has been ordered to repay at the least $1.2 million in six civil lawsuits, a quantity that’s anticipated to develop within the coming months.
A second set of prices stem from Webster’s apparently profitable effort to persuade state investigators that he was working his enterprise ethically and inside state pointers for an actual property dealer, authorities mentioned.
Webster’s frequent withdrawals from escrow accounts and his excessive stage of spending caught the eye of his brother, staff, and different enterprise contacts, prosecutors wrote.
In 2023, the state Division of Occupational Licensure notified Webster that they might be auditing the agency’s escrow accounts, prosecutors mentioned.
When he met with an investigator, Webster allegedly offered a letter signed by a financial institution official confirming that he had $1 million in an escrow account, when in reality he solely had round $7,000. Webster had created the letter, which was bogus, prosecutors alleged.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’s workplace mentioned will ask that his bail be set at $100,000 money.
“Even after the company’s collapse in December 2024, the defendant continued making payments on luxury vehicles, jet skis, a boat, and personal credit cards rather than directing resources toward curing escrow shortfalls,” prosecutors wrote.
John R. Ellement could be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @JREbosglobe.
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