Santa Barbara man accused of stealing more than $1 million, indicted on 49 counts

The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday that 49 financial fraud charges have been filed against Stefan Bernard DeWitte, a 38-year-old Santa Barbara resident.

Officials say DeWitte stole a total of more than $1 million from three different individuals.

According to local representatives, the 38-year-old’s 49 charges include embezzlement, forgery, theft by false pretenses, securities fraud and money laundering. The Santa Barbara resident is also reportedly charged with several special charges involving crime prevention and money laundering.

The misdemeanor complaint filed Friday outlines the details of the extensive charges filed against DeWitte.

Several criminal offenses have been committed against an individual identified in the complaint as Caroline DeWitte, including embezzlement of more than $629,000, forgery of a deed of gift of real estate, forgery of a $260,000 investment contract, forgery of a shareholders’ agreement, theft under false pretense of $260,000, and a securities offering violation.

DeWitte’s crimes also targeted California Pacific Reality, from which he forged a deed of trust and fraudulently stole $185,000.

A person identified as Tanja Dewitte was the third victim of the Santa Barbara resident’s crimes mentioned in the document; Officials say the suspect embezzled more than $210,600 from the victim, committed two thefts under false pretenses worth $60,000 and $20,000 respectively, and violated a securities offering.

In addition, Dewitte received several special charges listed in the felony complaint, such as aggravated white-collar crime loss in excess of $500,000, excessive loss in excess of $100,000, indications of planning of the crimes committed, and three separate counts of money laundering transactions in excess of $50,000 within a 30 day period.

The official document outlines the 37 different money laundering schemes allegedly carried out by DeWitte, including the items and services he used stolen money to pay for. These individual fees range in value from $0.99 to $22,000, with some transactions typically attributed to Venmo transfers and services offered through Uber.

DeWitte is reportedly being held on $800,000 bail at the Santa Barbara County Jail. His case will be heard in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on November 4.