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Prosecutors have labeled it as one of the largest frauds of its type in the United Kingdom.

In all 14 people have been sentenced for their part in a multi-million pound scheme to swindle more than 3,500 timeshare investors.

The victims were eager to exit age-old vacation property deals and sought out support.

Most were in the age range of 60 and 80. In excess of 500 of them lost more than £10,000, and one individual transferred more than £80,000.

Those affected were exposed to intense sales meetings lasting up to six hours. They were financially worse off, possessing worthless fake "credits" and continued to be locked into high-priced vacation property deals they often use.

The Firm Behind the Scam

The company at the heart of the scam was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They took clients' cash to support the proprietors' opulent way of life of private schools, luxury homes and personal aircraft.

The individual at the top of the firm, Mark Rowe, was given a seven-and-half year jail time in January for fraudulent conspiracy.

In the latest development, his spouse another individual was one of the final three to learn their fate.

She was given a two-year long suspended jail sentence at the judicial venue after admitting money laundering.

It has been a lengthy process and represents a significant success for the individuals who testified, the police and the Crown.

How the Inquiry Started

I first heard about the firm emerged during the summer of 2016. The role involved in the reporting team of a news organization, creating investigative programmes.

A friend pointed out that his parent had inherited the ownership of a holiday property in Spain and, after decades of vacations, had started seeking to exit the deal.

It's worth mentioning how widespread timeshares had become with English tourists in the last decades of the 20th century.

Vacation properties enabled individuals to occupy the same accommodation every year, or trade their weeks with fellow investors who had properties in other resorts. About 600,000 vacation seekers seized that opportunity.

The initial boom was paired with a lot of reports about dishonest operators mis-selling properties. They appeared frequently on investigative shows.

The common holiday ownership agreement locked buyers for long periods.

In that period, those investors who had enjoyed their guaranteed place in the resort for decades were ageing, and many were attempting to end their association to their holiday properties.

Several had reduced ability to travel and were unable to visit their properties. Some just believed they'd got all they wanted from them. And some had deceased, in frequent situations bequeathing their loved ones to inherit the contracts - including their yearly fees and maintenance fees.

The Covert Probe Develops

It was at this point the friend's mum had ended up. She searched the web for options and discovered the company, a firm whose digital platform assured to get her out of her agreement.

However, having made a payment and scheduled a consultation with them, her family had doubts.

Subsequent checking uncovered hundreds of people reporting they had handed over cash and got nothing from the service. In fact, they had suffered financially. Significant sums.

Our team started looking into what was occurring. It soon emerged that there were dubious individuals working within the vacation property industry.

A legal professional had hundreds of individual complaints waiting to sue SMT.

Reporters contacted people who had dealt with the organization and they all told the same story. They believed the business would acquire their investment off them but when they participated in a session (for which they paid up front) they were advised there was no re-sale value.

Rather, they were persuaded - actually compelled - to invest additional funds purchasing "the company's points system", named after the business's umbrella group, the overarching entity.

What exactly these were was not exactly clear. They seemed similar to a type of exchange medium, giving access to reduced-price holidays and benefits and consumer discounts.

And they were reportedly "exchangeable with other owners, some time down the line.

Investing money immediately would produce an long-term benefit that would offset SMT's fees and result in the property owner in profit, liberated eventually from their pesky deal.

An unbelievable offer? Well, yes.

A 'Deceptive Tactic'

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

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

Someone - here SMT - "attracts the consumer by advertising a specific service and then state it cannot be provided, directing the client to an alternative, lesser option.

Such practices are unlawful. Armed with all the evidence we had collected, we presented the rationale to secretly film one of the organization's sessions.

This takes time, effort, and strong justifications for why this is the exclusive approach to collect the evidence required to prove wrongdoing.

With approval secured, our small team organized a appointment with one of the company's representatives in the English town.

Posing as a potential client wanting to get his mum released from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement