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There is a growing scam nowadays telling blatant lies on the phone to those owners who are desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts. Recently, some national heat is coming down about such fraud on three Palm Beach County pitchers. The federal grand jurors in East St. Louis, Illinois, indicted Darnell Disroe, 38, and Michael Lentine, 32, of Boynton Beach and Michael Starace, 42, of Lantana. Meanwhile, Boynton Beach police and US postal inspectors cooperated in an investigation that found more than 600 victims were bilked for more than $1.3 million in 46 states and Canada.

According to an unsealed indictment, Real Timeshare Marketing asked timeshare condo owners to pay thousands of dollars for costs associated with phony pending sales. Despite collecting $1.3 million in fees between Dec. 1 and April 28, the company was not instrumental in selling a single timeshare interest, as the federal officials said.

Similar cases also have become the top complaint to a state fraud hot line, surpassing mortgage scams, and involving more than 10,000 complaints against scores of companies. Palm Beach County has been a hotbed for the business with 10 of 17 companies subpoenaed by the Florida Attorney General’s Office in March based in the county. Fines, settlements and pending civil charges at the state and local level have also addressed some of the complaints.

Currently, the federal authorities are pursuing charges of mail fraud and other offenses that carry up to 25 years in prison or fines up to $250,000 per count. Among others, an Illinois customer paid $1,886 after an agent for Real Timeshare Marketing promised someone wanted to buy the customer’s timeshare interest for more than $20,000. But the sale of such vacation property never happened, as authorities said. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois has recently announced the charges.

There is a growing scam nowadays telling blatant lies on the phone to those owners who are desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts. Recently, some national heat is coming down about such fraud on three Palm Beach County pitchers. The federal grand jurors in East St. Louis, Illinois, indicted Darnell Disroe, 38, and Michael Lentine, 32, of Boynton Beach and Michael Starace, 42, of Lantana. Meanwhile, Boynton Beach police and US postal inspectors cooperated in an investigation that found more than 600 victims were bilked for more than $1.3 million in 46 states and Canada.

According to an unsealed indictment, Real Timeshare Marketing asked timeshare condo owners to pay thousands of dollars for costs associated with phony pending sales. Despite collecting $1.3 million in fees between Dec. 1 and April 28, the company was not instrumental in selling a single timeshare interest, as the federal officials said.

Similar cases also have become the top complaint to a state fraud hot line, surpassing mortgage scams, and involving more than 10,000 complaints against scores of companies. Palm Beach County has been a hotbed for the business with 10 of 17 companies subpoenaed by the Florida Attorney General’s Office in March based in the county. Fines, settlements and pending civil charges at the state and local level have also addressed some of the complaints.

Currently, the federal authorities are pursuing charges of mail fraud and other offenses that carry up to 25 years in prison or fines up to $250,000 per count. Among others, an Illinois customer paid $1,886 after an agent for Real Timeshare Marketing promised someone wanted to buy the customer’s timeshare interest for more than $20,000. But the sale of such vacation property never happened, as authorities said. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois has recently announced the charges.

Although there are several scams in the timeshare industry along with the increasing number of owners who are trying to get out of their timeshares every year, many vacationers are still into such vacation properties. Recently in Miami, a father-and-son duo was accused of timeshare fraud. They allegedly bankrolled their lavish lifestyles with $170 million in investors’ money, and when investors began to question their activities, they responded with threats and intimidation, as the dozens of lawsuits filed in Federal Court stated.

According to the lawsuit, Frederick Elliott and his son, Derek Elliott, sold timeshares in luxury vacation properties in the Dominican Republic, promising investors a steady and predictable double-digit returns on allegedly safe investments. As the lawsuit stated, Frederick and Derek misused plaintiffs’ hard-earned money to finance fanciful Hollywood productions, produce self promotional videos, purchase a half-a-million-dollar yacht, and pay off personal gambling debts in Las Vegas, among other things.

There are about 170 investors who have sued the Elliotts and their complex web of offshore companies and shell corporations that they have created to escape liability. As the lawsuits stated, they treated these entities as one collective ‘piggy bank,’ taking funds from one company indiscriminately to pay the obligations of another.

The Elliotts base their operations in Miami. According to the investors, they do this because Miami offered a sophisticated banking system with access to international financial markets, and willing bilingual professionals to assist them in their illegal pursuits. Most of their victims were found through presentations on cruise ships where they were invited to speak.

The Elliotts allegedly sold timeshares in some resort properties that weren’t finished like a hotel in Juan Dolia, and then rented them out through travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity. Timeshare owners were supposed to get a cut of the rent of such vacation property. But in typical Ponzi fashion, the Elliotts used money from new investors to pay the original timeshare purchasers. Among other things, investors accuse the Elliotts and their companies of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, civil conspiracy and breach of contract.

The Vacation Ownership Association South Africa (VOASA) will be hosting its annual industry conference at the Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel, Durban, The conference will discuss the growth prospects of timeshares in South Africa. It will be a venue for industry experts to exchange ideas and interact with their colleagues in…

Timeshare owners can gain much needed information and advice in an upcoming conference in September, which will feature national speakers who will share valuable insights for timeshare owners. “Many Wisconsin citizens own timeshares and it is very difficult to obtain unbiased information about what they should do with their ownership,” stated…