Five more people have been indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud in a time-share resale scheme operated under the names Creative Vacation Solutions and Universal Marketing Solutions. The con game defrauded 22,000 people nationwide out of $30 million, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud were Anthony Colon, 37, of Delray Beach; Troy Dye, 48, of Boynton Beach; Chris Gilkey, 30, of Lake Worth; Marc Martinangelo, 33, of Boynton Beach; and Robert Santiago, 26, of West Palm Beach.   They are the latest employees either indicted or sentenced in connection with the fraudulent telemarketing scheme.  The company took upfront fees from time-share owners across the nation, claiming the payments were for closing costs on sales that never happened.

I received a statement from the Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi which I'd like to share with readers. It proves that consumers who take the time to report timeshare related fraud do make a difference, as we have seen in the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of numerous individuals who were involved with the Universal Marketing Solutions/Creative Marketing Solutions scheme to defraud. Follows is an excerpt from the AG statement:

"...In 2010, we received more than 12,000 complaints about timeshare resale fraud—more than the next four highest complaint categories combined. Tackling timeshare resale fraud is a top priority in my office. In addition to championing tougher laws to stop timeshare resale fraud, we diligently investigate these types of cases. I am pleased to share that one of our investigations has resulted in a 188-month sentence in federal prison for a woman, Jennifer Kirk, for conspiracy to commit fraud and wire fraud. Kirk, now a resident of Illinois, was operating a timeshare resale scam that stole $30 million from more than 22,000 victims across the country. Kirk owned and operated Universal Marketing Solutions, which later became Creative Vacation Solutions, from October 2007 until December 2009 when my office shut these companies down. The companies were located in and operated out of Palm Beach County.

The complaint states that Kirk employed telemarketers who placed cold calls to timeshare owners and then falsely represented that their company had actual buyers for the owners’ timeshare property. Her telemarketers then solicited advanced fees of up to several thousand dollars from each victim in purported closing costs that they promised would be refunded to the owner once the closing on the property occurred.

According to the complaint, despite collecting fees from approximately $1,200 to $3,000 from each of the 22,000 victims, her companies never sold a single timeshare unit. The complaint also alleged that the defendant and her co-conspirators pocketed the closing costs. My office obtained an injunction and asset freeze against the businesses, which prevented Kirk and the co-defendants from continuing to operate any timeshare or timeshare related businesses and froze all assets related to the businesses named in the complaint.

To date, 11 individuals have been charged in connection with the operation of Creative Vacation Solutions and Universal Marketing Solutions. The federal investigation is continuing into those timeshare resale scams. The United States Postal Inspection Service assisted with this investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Illinois prosecuted the case.

Florida will not tolerate people who prey on those trying to sell their timeshares. This case is a great example of law enforcement working together to protect consumers...."

See the entire release HERE.

The Attorney General’s Office protects timeshare owners by investigating the business practices of companies that market their services to timeshare owners interested in selling or renting their timeshare interests. Many of these companies charge exorbitant fees and perform very few services. Under Florida law, these companies are called “Resale Service Providers” and are required to provide a written disclosure of the fees and costs relating to advertising, listing, or sale of a timeshare interest, as well as other disclosures. Consumers also should request a contract in writing prior to providing any payment information.

In addition, timeshare owners should be cautious of any business demands any type of upfront fee prior to performing any services. Furthermore, no government entity will require a consumer to pay money up front in order to assist that consumer in pursuing a fraud claim or prior to making attempts to secure a refund for a consumer. Also, please be aware that the Florida Office of the Attorney General does not contract with any third party companies to assist in obtaining refunds or restitution for individuals. If you receive an unsolicited call claiming to be associated Attorney General's office asking for a fee for "timeshare advocacy" services- it is a scam! Should any company imply that they are working with the Florida Office of the Attorney General or at the request of this office, consumers are encouraged to file a complaint.

_Read the entire article HERE.

"...A federal judge sentenced the architect of a timeshare telemarketing scheme that bilked $30 million from 22,000 victims to more than 15 years in prison Monday, waving off the new mother’s sobbing claims of remorse. U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy rejected Jennifer Kirk’s request for a 12-year term and admonished the 31-year-old New Jersey woman for starting a family even after her scheme had drawn the attention of state and federal authorities...

...Federal prosecutors say Kirk operated Florida-based Universal Marketing Solutions and later Creative Vacation Solutions from October 2007 to December 2009, employing telemarketers who falsely told timeshare owners in unsolicited calls that they had buyers for their properties."

While I'm happy to hear that she is being punished for her crimes with imprisonment, I would have liked to have seen some type of restitution be offered to the victims of her scheme. A fine of $15,000 hardly seems fitting for more than $30 million in consumer fraud. I have to wonder where all that money went, and why more can't be returned to the fraud victims themselves.

A con artist who defrauded consumers out of more than a quarter million dollars by promising timeshare owners that Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions had waiting buyers for their timeshares, and then simply pocketing the upfront fees- has also been sentenced in Federal court.  Ralph Johnson, 34, or Delray Beach- was employed as a telemarketer by the call centers, and is the latest individual to be sentenced to prison as part of the prosecution of more than $30 million estimated in total mail and wire fraud by the companies.

Johnson worked as a telemarketer in the call center in 2009, and according to prosecutors scammed more than $282,000 from 141 victims.  He pleaded guilty in early September to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, was just sentenced last week to spend forty-six months in prison.

This aggressive prosecution of everyone involved in the timeshare resale scam will hopefully deter other individuals from operating or even working for these types of fraudulent upfront fee schemes.

__Con Artist Steven Folan pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and twelve counts of mail fraud. The prosecutor alleged that Steven Folan was a manager of Universal Marketing Solutions, and later Creative Vacation Solutions, in South Florida and scammed timeshare owners from 2007 until the operation was shut down in 2010.

Telemarketers for Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions made cold calls to timeshare owners from black market lists, and then falsely promised that their company had buyers for timeshare properties. The con artist then demanded upfront fees of up to several thousand dollars from each victim, claiming the fees to be required closing costs that they promised would be refunded to the timeshare owner at closing. Despite collecting fees from more than twenty thousand victims, not a single timeshare was sold or transferred.

Folan faces a penalty of up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2012.

STLToday.com is reporting that two more telemarketers for Creative Vacation Solutions, a Florida company that has been shuttered by authorities for running a multi-million dollar timeshare resale scam, were indicted in federal court on Wednesday.  Joseph Arthur Grizzanti and Kenneth Foote are charged with a conspiracy to commit mail fraud and accused of scamming timeshare owners. Both men were telemarketers with Creative Vacation Solutions, whose employees cold-called time share owners and falsely claimed that they had buyers waiting, the indictment says.

The closing fees that the telemarketers charged the owners varied depended on how desperate those owners seemed, authorities claim. Prosecutors believe the timeshare defrauded consumers for more than $29 million but never arranged a single timeshare sale. Grizzanti is accused of scamming 78 victims out of $156,000, and Foote is accused of scamming 40 out of $79,000. The owner, managers, and other employees of Creative Vacation Solutions have either already been charged, or are awaiting indictments in what has become the most comprehensive prosecution of a timeshare related scam.

Stephen R. Wigginton announced that Ralph Johnson, 34, of Delray Beach, Fla., has pled guilty to a one-count criminal charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud perpetrated under the company names of Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions.



"While I urge consumers to always be wary of internet or telephone solicitations which sound too good to be true, I will never cease in my determination to prosecute scammers who prey upon the citizens of southern Illinois," said Wigginton.



This is the fourth case against the Florida-based telemarketing scam operating under the names Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions. The con artists targeted timeshare owners throughout the United States. Ralph Johnson was a telemarketer for Creative Vacation Solutions and is believed to have cheated more than one hundred victims or more than a quarter of a million dollars in scam fees.

In previous cases related to the Universal Marketing Solutions/Creative Vacation Solutions scam, authorities have stated that the overall scam bilked over 22,000 victims of $30 million before being raided by police.

The Associated Press is reporting that three more individuals who reportedly scammed millions from timeshare owners under the business names Universal Marketing Solutions and later Creative Vacation Solutions. The telemarketing companies are accused of pitching bogus time-share deals and defrauding $30 million from more than 22,000 victims across North America and Puerto Rico.

The latest indictment accuses Ryan Brazel, 31, Steven Folan, 34, and Brian Morris, 45, all of Florida's Palm Beach area, of a dozen counts of mail fraud as well as a conspiracy count. The three defendants were managers of the Florida-based telemarketing companies under owner Jennifer Kirk, who pleaded guilty in June to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. Kirk, 31, of Howell, N.J., faces up to a quarter century in prison and $250,000 in fines when she is sentenced Oct. 24.

Federal prosecutors have alleged that employees of the companies falsely told time-share owners in unsolicited calls that they had buyers for their properties. They solicited upfront fees of up to several thousand dollars from victims in purported closing costs they promised to refund when the promised sales closed. But Kirk's companies sold few if any of the time-shares and simply pocketed the upfront fee closing costs, refusing to refund the victims money.

The Florida Attorney General has reported an ongoing investigation of a timeshare marketing company and telemarketing operation using the names Hicks Inc, Universal Marketing Solutions, and Creative Vacation Solutions that are operating out of Lake Worth, Florida.

Case Number: L08-3-1192
Subject of investigation:
Hicks, Inc. d/b/a Universal Marketing Solutions/Creative Vacation Solutions, Inc.
Subject's address:
1300 NW 17th Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 34445; 3900 Woodlake Ave. Lake Worth, FL. 33463
Subject's business:
Telemarketing
Allegation or issue being investigated:
Alleged violations of Chapter 501, Part II, misrepresentation of services to be rendered-Chapter 501, Part IV, violations of Telemarketing Act
AG unit handling case:
Economic Crimes Division in West Palm Beach, Florida