Ruthless timeshare fraud robbed elderly of savings

Des said finding out he had been scammed was "like a kick in the guts"

A man duped out of £14,000 has said those responsible are "scum", as the shocking scale of a £28m timeshare fraud involving more than 3,500 victims is revealed.

Fourteen people, including managing director Mark Rowe and his wife Nicola, have been convicted over the scheme which operated under the Sell My Timeshare brand.

The couple, both 54 and from Hampshire, bankrolled a lavish lifestyle by exploiting vulnerable victims - many in their 70s and 80s - who were desperate to sell their holiday homes.

Des, 73, from south London, told the BBC the moment he realised he had lost thousands felt "like a kick in the guts" - a devastating setback that forced him to delay his retirement.

The "elaborate" and "complex" fraud, which began in 2013, is thought to be one of the biggest conspiracies of its kind in the UK.

Timeshares usually involve paying a one-off lump sum, plus annual maintenance fees, in return for being able to use a property for an agreed number of weeks each year, every year for life.

Predominantly in the 1980s and 1990s, timeshares were marketed as holidays without the hassle, and many investors were told they would increase in value and be easy to get out of, whenever they wanted.

As owners aged or suffered failing health, many found they could no longer use the homes or afford the rising maintenance payments and wanted to dispose of them.

These are the people Mark Rowe and his accomplices targeted, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Victims were "lured" with offers of exchanging their timeshares for "Monster Credits" which promised holiday discounts and shopping vouchers.

It was claimed these would grow in value and be tradable at a future date. Clients typically invested about £8,000 each.

They would later discover not only were the credits "worthless", but in most cases, they still owned and incurred the costs of their timeshares.

Police investigators described "high-pressure" sales meetings in offices in Bournemouth, York, Stratford-on-Avon or Tenerife, which often lasted up to six hours.

Mark and Nicola Rowe lived a lavish lifestyle from the profits of their crimes

In total, 3,583 people across the UK were defrauded out of £28.1m, with the highest individual loss being £80,000.

Nearly 500 victims lost more than £10,000. Most were aged between 60 and 80, with some in their 90s.

Des, from Mitcham, recalled how he was persuaded to take out a loan by the company.

The police have asked us not to reveal his surname.

The former engineer had been trying to sell his family's timeshares in Tenerife and was alerted to the con by the police.

"We were devastated because I wanted to retire at the time, but now I couldn't afford to," he said.

"I was absolutely gutted and every phone call I made to the Bournemouth office, I got fobbed off."

Des, who branded the fraudsters "scum", said: "How do these people sleep at night?

"They don't care about us normal people. They're greedy, they get greedier and they're living their life of luxury from their ill-gotten gains."

Victims were persuaded to buy so-called Monster Rewards which were "worthless"

Mark Rowe spent millions of pounds of his victims' cash on advertising, glossy brochures, websites, virtual offices, accomplices and unsuspecting employees - things that police and prosecutors say made the brand look like a "highly credible" and "prestige" enterprise.

But Mark and Nicola Rowe had £8m from the fraud paid into their personal bank accounts.

Their spending included almost £1m on home, garden and stable improvements, £185,000 on art, including a pencil sketch by the artist LS Lowry, and £26,000 on private jet hire.

Mark Rowe was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in August after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

Passing sentence, Judge Alexander Milne called him "profoundly dishonest" and a "corrupting influence" who had "left a trail of misery".

"The anger, embarrassment and humiliation of the clients who realised they had been duped was palpable in court," he said.

Mark and Nicola Rowe's £2.4m Hampshire home, which has since been sold, was financed by their fraud

Nicola Rowe is due to be sentenced later at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering.

Senior investigating officer Peter Highway, from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, described how Mark Rowe continually invented new methods to deceive.

"He paid for TV and magazine ads, put victims up in hotels and even created fake virtual offices and fake personas," he said.

A BBC Scotland investigation uncovered evidence in 2016 that ageing timeshare owners were having problems relinquishing their contracts.

Gayle Ramsay, from the CPS, said some of the victims had died before seeing justice.

She said the criminals had "acted in a completely selfish and manipulative manner to make huge sums for themselves" while exploiting elderly timeshare owners.

She added the victims had been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after purchasing something which was worthless.

Twelve other people were also convicted:

• Jodi Beard, 43, of El Roque, Tenerife, two years' imprisonment suspended for two years after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Paul Harrison, 55, of Weymouth, four-and-a-half years' imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Nihat Salih, 57, of Poole, Dorset, three years' imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Lisa Salih, 56, of Poole, two years' imprisonment suspended for two years after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Samantha Macaulay, 52, of San Miguel De Abona, Tenerife, 18 months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months after being found guilty of fraud by false representation. Macaulay was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Simon Walker, 58, of Costa Adeje in Tenerife, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years' imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Joanne Physick, 46, of Los Christianos Arona, Tenerife, two-and-a-half years' imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• David Taylor, 65, of East Yorkshire, three years' imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

• Joanne Taylor, 53, of East Yorkshire,12 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation

• Lee Evans, 51, of Preston, two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation

• Barrie Fox, 69, of Worcester, and Josephine Cuthill-Fox, 60, of Worcester, are due to be sentenced later after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation