Get Real, Timeshare Thugs

By February 2, 2014Timeshares in the News

Real, hard time, that is. Twenty years of hard time is what one timeshare thug is facing after being convicted of fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering among others. The story in Biz Journals online can be found here, and it reads a lot like The Godfather. The mobsters met in prison before pilfering a presumably legit timeshare resale company’s database through a maze of lies and fraudulent business practices. And they all have nicknames, mobster ones: Pasty U Pasto or Posh was the leader of the ring, who got the 20 year sentence. He was also ordered to forfeit $3.5 million and pay another $1.06 in restitution, which is not even the $5 million that he creamed from unsuspecting timeshare scam victims, more than 3,000 of them.

 

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Lovins, Posh’s sidekick, was sentenced to 33 months in prison after his conviction for federal charges. But he’s just another one of the timeshare mobster ring, which ran 41 thugs in all: 37 defendants have plead guilty, one is awaiting trial, and one is dead.

 

Joey Cigars, another man in the timeshare mafia, worked alongside Posh to build up their mob ring, who used phones more than firearms, and preying on innocent timeshare owners, would rake in the money. Cold-calling timeshare owners with a lie about having sold their timeshare and needing an upfront fee, this group raked in millions, with the minimum payment being $1,996 and as much as $10,000 per owner.

 

The time it took to pull it off? Only ten months. In less than a year, thousands of victims fell prey to the timeshare thug ring. Don’t be the next one: never pay upfront fees; do business with licensed real estate agents; don’t answer cold-calls or timeshare marketers; and NEVER PAY UPFRONT FEES.

 

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