Contact: Nathan Lederman 508-584-8120
BROCKTON – A Massachusetts real estate broker was arraigned today in Brockton Superior Court on charges relating to the abrupt closure of his real estate firm last year resulting in over a million dollars in client escrow funds being unaccounted for and approximately $500,000 in unpaid commissions owed to company agents, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Stephen Webster, 63, is charged with Fiduciary Embezzlement, Larceny over $1,200 by Single Scheme, Witness Intimidation, and Publishing a False Financial Statement. He was held on $100,000 cash bail and placed on conditions of release which include relinquishing all travel documents, remaining in Massachusetts during the pendency of this case and meeting with probation services on a regular basis. The Commonwealth had requested Webster be held on $500,000 cash bail.
Webster served as the longtime broker and principal of Success! Real Estate, Inc., which operated for decades across southeastern Massachusetts before its abrupt closure in December 2024. A months-long investigation uncovered South Shore Bank and Rockland Trust records, accounting ledgers, and witness interviews indicating a pattern of systemic financial misconduct by Webster between 2023 and 2024.
Investigators found that Webster misappropriated funds held in escrow, transferred client deposits into business and personal accounts, and submitted false financial documentation to regulators — including a forged bank letter claiming that his company’s escrow account held more than $900,000, when in reality it contained only a few thousand dollars.
The firm’s sudden closure, delivered without warning, blindsided employees, many of whom were actively engaged in pending real estate transactions where Success! was holding buyer deposits in escrow and owed substantial commission checks. The timing of the closure, delivered without explanation, left clients, agents, and counterparties in limbo and exposed the extent of the company’s unresolved escrow obligations.
Following a thorough, preliminary investigation into Webster’s alleged misconduct, an arrest warrant was issued for Webster and entered into a national database. Law enforcement cooperation between multiple Commonwealth police departments, Massachusetts State Police, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida resulted in Webster’s arrest in Palm Beach County on September 30. He was transported back to the Commonwealth yesterday for today’s arraignment.
Webster is next scheduled to appear in court on November 13 for a pre-trial conference.