Santa Barbara man accused of stealing more than $1 million from family members

Stefan Bernard DeWitte is accused of embezzlement, forgery, money laundering and more

A Santa Barbara man has been arrested on multiple fraud charges for allegedly stealing more than $1 million from family members.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney John T. Savrnoch announced Friday that charges have been filed against Stefan Bernard DeWitt, a 38-year-old Santa Barbara resident.

DeWitte is charged with 49 counts, including embezzlement, forgery, theft by false pretenses,
Securities fraud and 37 counts of money laundering. He is also accused of an act of particular cruelty
Aggravated white-collar crime charges for allegedly taking more than $500,000 and three special counts of laundering more than $50,000 within a 30-day period, according to District Attorney Savrnoch.

In total, DeWitte allegedly stole over $1,000,000 from three different people, two of whom are believed to be family members and the third is California Pacific Realty.

The investigation was conducted by District Attorney Investigator Kristen Shamordola of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit. According to 35-page criminal complaintthe crimes occurred in 2021–2023.

DeWitte, whose occupation is listed on booking information as “real estate broker,” is accused of falsifying a deed and additional documents related to a home located at 600 S. San Marcos Road in Santa Barbara. He is also accused of fraudulently investing money in the fictitious fund “BETTER FUTURES FUND IV/GREEN TRIANGLES CORP.”

The complaint also detailed an accounting of where DeWitte spent some of the stolen money. Fares have been increased for a number of bars, restaurants, Doordash and Uber rides, as well as costs for travel to Austin, Texas in 2022 for ILLfest, a music and arts festival.

DeWitte also used the illegal funds to dine at local establishments such as Honor Bar, Milk & Honey, Dargans, Caje, SOhO and Tee Off.

DeWitte was arrested on October 31, 2024 and is being held in the Santa Barbara County Jail on $800,000 bail. As of November 1, 2024, he was still in custody.

His hearing on the complaint is scheduled for November 4, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 8 of Santa Barbara County Superior Court.