How Covert Filming Uncovered a Multi-Million Pound Timeshare Fraud

Authorities have called it as one of the largest scams of its type in the United Kingdom.

A total of 14 people have been convicted for their role in a multi-million pound conspiracy to swindle in excess of 3,500 holiday ownership holders.

The targets were eager to get out of decades-old timeshare contracts and went looking for assistance.

Most were from 60 and 80. Over 500 of them lost more than £10,000, and one paid over £80,000.

Those targeted were exposed to high-pressure presentations extending for six hours. They were out of money, possessing valueless fake "points" and still trapped in high-priced holiday ownership agreements they could no longer use.

The Firm At the Heart of the Deception

The business at the heart of the fraud was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They accepted clients' cash to finance the directors' opulent standard of living of exclusive education, high-end properties and personal aircraft.

The leader at the top of the organization, the company director, was handed a 90-month jail time in January for deceptive scheme.

In the latest development, his partner another individual was part of the concluding cases to hear their sentences.

She was given a 24-month suspended prison term at the London court after confessing to illegal fund handling.

It has been a extended wait and represents a major victory for the individuals who testified, the police and the Crown.

The Way the Investigation Started

I first heard about SMT emerged during the mid-2016. The role involved in the reporting team of a media outlet, making investigative features.

A colleague pointed out that his mother had taken over the rights of a timeshare apartment in Spain and, after decades of vacations, had begun looking to terminate the deal.

It should be noted how popular timeshares had grown with UK travelers in the eighties and nineties.

Timeshares allowed people to occupy the equivalent unit annually, or swap their time slots with fellow investors who had properties in different locations. Approximately 600,000 vacation seekers accepted that opportunity.

The initial boom was paired with a lot of reports about dishonest operators mis-selling properties. They were regularly featured on consumer broadcasts.

The common holiday ownership agreement locked buyers for long periods.

In that period, those holders who had used their guaranteed place in the sun for 20 or 30 years were ageing, and a large proportion were hoping to say farewell to their holiday properties.

Several had health issues and couldn't get to their units. A few just believed they'd achieved their goals from them. And others had died, in numerous instances bequeathing their heirs to take over the agreements - including their regular contributions and service charges.

The Undercover Operation Progresses

And that's where the family member had found herself. She searched the web for answers and discovered the company, a enterprise whose website promised to get her out of her contract.

But, having paid a fee and scheduled a consultation with them, her relatives had doubts.

Additional investigation uncovered numerous individuals saying they had submitted funds and achieved no result from the service. In fact, they had been left out of pocket. A lot of it.

Our team started looking into what was going on. It was rapidly apparent that there were dubious individuals operating in the vacation property industry.

A legal professional had many grievance cases preparing to take action against SMT.

Reporters contacted individuals who had used the firm and they all told the same story. They believed the company would purchase their timeshare away from them but when they attended a meeting (for which they made an advance payment) they were informed there was no re-sale value.

In place of that, they were encouraged - indeed coerced - to commit further cash acquiring "Monster Rewards", linked to the outfit's parent company, the parent organization.

The nature of these rewards was not exactly clear. They sounded like a form of credit, offering discount travel and amenities and shopping deals.

And they were reportedly "tradable" with additional holders, some time down the line.

Paying cash up front now would result in an eventual payoff that would offset the company's charges and allow the investor in profit, liberated eventually from their troublesome deal.

An unrealistic promise? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Misleading Scheme'

Based on these descriptions were correct, this was a major deception.

It's what is called a "bait-and-switch."

Someone - specifically SMT - "attracts the customer by advertising a defined offering but then to say that's not available, steering the client to a different, lower-quality offering.

This is against the law. Possessing all the testimony we had gathered, we argued to secretly film one of the firm's consultations.

Such an operation demands time, effort, and compelling reasons for why this is the only way to collect the information necessary to prove wrongdoing.

With approval secured, our compact group organized a consultation with one of the company's representatives in the English town.

Pretending to be a ordinary individual hoping to help his mother released from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement