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It has been described as among the biggest deceptions of its nature in the United Kingdom.

Altogether 14 individuals have been sentenced for their involvement in a multi-million pound plot to cheat more than 3,500 vacation property owners.

The victims were desperate to terminate age-old timeshare contracts and went looking for support.

A large number were aged between 60 and 80. More than 500 of them surrendered more than £10,000, and a single victim handed over in excess of £80,000.

Those affected were exposed to intense consultations lasting up to six hours. They were left out of pocket, owning useless fake "points" and remained trapped in high-priced timeshare contracts they could no longer use.

The Company At the Heart of the Fraud

The firm at the core of the scam was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They collected customers' funds to fund the owners' lavish way of life of prestigious schooling, high-end properties and personal aircraft.

The leader at the helm of the organization, Mark Rowe, was given a seven and a half year prison term in January for fraudulent conspiracy.

Recently, his partner another individual was one of the final three to receive sentencing.

She was given a two-year long suspended jail sentence at the London court after admitting illegal fund handling.

The outcome represents a long time coming and signifies a significant success for the individuals who testified, the law enforcement and legal representatives.

How the Inquiry Started

I first heard about SMT came in the that particular year. The role involved in the reporting team of a media outlet, creating investigative features.

A colleague pointed out that his mother had taken over the rights of a timeshare apartment in the Spanish coast and, after years of holidays, had started seeking to exit the deal.

It should be noted how common vacation properties had grown with British holidaymakers in the eighties and nineties.

Timeshares enabled families to occupy the identical property each season, or trade their time slots with other owners who had units in different locations. Approximately 600,000 vacation seekers took up that option.

The first timeshare rush was linked to a numerous reports about dishonest operators mis-selling properties. They were regularly featured on investigative shows.

The standard timeshare contract locked buyers for many years.

At that time, those owners who had experienced their guaranteed place in the resort for a long time were getting older, and many were looking to end their association to their holiday properties.

A number had declining mobility and were unable to visit their units. Others just felt they'd achieved their goals from them. And a portion had died, in frequent situations bequeathing their loved ones to inherit the deals - including their annual payments and service charges.

The Undercover Operation Unfolds

This was the situation the family member had ended up. She looked online for options and came across SMT, a enterprise whose digital platform claimed to release her from her agreement.

However, having paid a fee and scheduled a consultation with them, her loved ones became suspicious.

Further research showed numerous individuals reporting they had submitted funds and achieved no result from the service. Actually, they had lost money. Significant sums.

The reporting group commenced probing what was occurring. It soon emerged that there were some shady characters active in the holiday ownership market.

An attorney had many grievance cases preparing to take action against the organization.

We spoke to clients who had dealt with the organization and they collectively described identical situations. They believed the business would purchase their timeshare from them but when they attended a meeting (for which they made an advance payment) they were informed there was no potential buyers.

Instead, they were pushed - indeed pressured - to spend more money acquiring "the company's points system", associated with the outfit's parent company, Monster Travel.

The nature of these rewards was not exactly clear. They seemed similar to a type of exchange medium, giving access to reduced-price holidays and services and shopping deals.

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

Investing money at the time would lead to an long-term benefit that would cover SMT's fees and result in the property owner with a gain, released finally from their troublesome contract.

Too good to be true? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Bait-and-Switch Scam'

If these accounts were accurate, this was a massive scam.

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

A business - here SMT - "attracts the consumer by promoting a specific service but then to say that's not available, pushing the customer in the direction of an alternative, lesser offering.

This is against the law. Armed with all the testimony we had collected, we presented the rationale to discreetly video one of the firm's consultations.

This takes time, effort, and compelling reasons for why this is the sole method to collect the data needed to demonstrate illegal activity.

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

Acting as a member of the public wanting to help his mother free from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement