How Covert Filming Uncovered a Multi-Million Pound Timeshare Scam

Prosecutors have labeled it as one of the largest frauds of its nature in the UK.

A total of 14 defendants have been found guilty for their part in a multi-million pound conspiracy to defraud over 3,500 holiday ownership owners.

The targets were desperate to exit age-old timeshare contracts and went looking for assistance.

A large number were in the age range of 60 and 80. Over 500 of them surrendered more than £10,000, and one individual paid more than £80,000.

Those affected were subjected to intense sales meetings continuing for six hours. They were out of money, owning valueless fake "rewards" and remained trapped in costly holiday ownership agreements they could no longer use.

The Company Central to the Scam

The firm at the heart of the scam was the timeshare resale company. They collected clients' cash to support the owners' luxurious way of life of prestigious schooling, millionaire mansions and exclusive air travel.

The individual at the top of the organization, Mark Rowe, was handed a seven-and-half year prison term in January for conspiracy to defraud.

On Friday, his partner one of the co-defendants was among the last group to hear their sentences.

She was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence at the judicial venue after admitting illegal fund handling.

The outcome represents a long time coming and marks a huge win for the victims who came forward, the authorities and prosecutors.

The Way the Investigation Began

The first knowledge of the company came in the summer of 2016. I was working in the investigations unit of a broadcasting service, creating current affairs shows.

A acquaintance mentioned that his mother had taken over the rights of a holiday property in the Spanish coast and, after years of holidays, had begun looking to exit the contract.

It is important to recall how common timeshares had become with English tourists in the last decades of the 20th century.

Vacation properties permitted people to use the same accommodation annually, or swap their weeks with fellow investors who had units in different locations. Roughly 600,000 sun-lovers accepted that option.

The first timeshare rush was paired with a lot of accounts about rip-off merchants mis-selling properties. They were regularly featured on public interest shows.

The standard vacation property deal bound owners for many years.

In that period, those investors who had enjoyed their assigned property in the sunshine for decades were advancing in years, and a significant number were attempting to end their association to their timeshares.

A number had health issues and were unable to visit their properties. A few just felt they'd enjoyed sufficient use from them. And a portion had deceased, in many cases bequeathing their family members to inherit the agreements - along with their annual payments and maintenance fees.

The Covert Probe Unfolds

It was at this point the friend's mum had found herself. She looked online for solutions and found the company, a enterprise whose online presence claimed to get her out of her contract.

However, having made a payment and booked a meeting with them, her loved ones smelled a rat.

Subsequent checking revealed numerous individuals saying they had submitted funds and received no benefit from the service. In fact, they had been left out of pocket. Substantial amounts.

The reporting group commenced probing what was going on. It was rapidly apparent that there were some shady characters operating in the timeshare resale sector.

An attorney had numerous client reports preparing to take action against the organization.

The team interviewed people who had engaged the company and they all told the same story. They assumed the company would acquire their investment off them but when they went to a consultation (for which they paid up front) they were told there was no re-sale value.

Instead, they were pushed - indeed compelled - to invest additional funds investing in "the company's points system", associated with the outfit's parent company, the parent organization.

The nature of these rewards was rather ambiguous. They appeared to be a form of credit, providing reduced-price holidays and amenities and consumer discounts.

And they were reportedly "tradable" with fellow investors, some time down the line.

Paying cash immediately would produce an eventual payoff that would offset SMT's fees and allow the investor ahead financially, released finally from their pesky contract.

An unbelievable offer? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Bait-and-Switch Scheme'

Assuming these reports were true, this was a massive scam.

The technique is termed a "bait-and-switch."

An operator - specifically the company - "lures the consumer by marketing a specific service only to then state it cannot be provided, directing the client towards another, inferior product or service.

Such practices are unlawful. Equipped with all the evidence we had assembled, we presented the rationale to discreetly video one of the organization's sessions.

Such an operation demands time, effort, and strong justifications for why this is the exclusive approach to gather the data needed to confirm deceptive practices.

Armed with that permission, our limited crew arranged a consultation with one of the firm's agents in the English town.

Pretending to be a member of the public wanting to assist his parent out of her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement