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It has been described as a major scams of its kind in the UK.

A total of 14 defendants have been convicted for their involvement in a multi-million pound scheme to cheat more than 3,500 timeshare holders.

The victims were keen to exit age-old timeshare contracts and went looking for support.

The majority were from 60 and 80. In excess of 500 of them lost more than £10,000, and one handed over in excess of £80,000.

Those victimized were exposed to aggressive consultations lasting up to six hours. They were out of money, holding useless fake "rewards" and remained locked into costly holiday ownership agreements they frequently were unable to use.

The Company Behind the Scam

The company at the heart of the scheme was the timeshare resale company. They took customers' funds to support the owners' lavish standard of living of exclusive education, millionaire mansions and private jets.

The leader at the top of the firm, the main defendant, was handed a seven-and-half year sentence in January for conspiracy to defraud.

In the latest development, his partner Nicola was part of the concluding cases to receive sentencing.

She was handed a two-year suspended prison term at the judicial venue after admitting financial crime.

This has been a extended wait and marks a major victory for the victims who came forward, the police and prosecutors.

The Way the Investigation Started

The first knowledge of the firm was in the that particular year. The role involved in the research department of a broadcasting service, creating investigative programmes.

A friend pointed out that his parent had inherited the use of a holiday property in the Spanish coast and, after years of holidays, had begun looking to terminate the deal.

It's worth mentioning how widespread timeshares had become with British holidaymakers in the eighties and nineties.

Vacation properties permitted families to use the identical property each season, or exchange their weeks with fellow investors who had units in other resorts. Approximately 600,000 sun-lovers accepted that option.

The first timeshare rush was linked to a lot of stories about unscrupulous sellers mis-selling investments. They became a staple on consumer TV programmes.

The typical holiday ownership agreement tied investors in for many years.

In that period, those investors who had experienced their assigned property in the sun for 20 or 30 years were ageing, and many were hoping to wave goodbye to their timeshares.

Several had reduced ability to travel and found it difficult to access their properties. A few just believed they'd enjoyed sufficient use from them. And some had died, in many cases passing on their family members to take over the deals - along with their regular contributions and maintenance fees.

The Undercover Operation Develops

It was at this point the family member had found herself. She looked online for solutions and found the company, a business whose online presence promised to terminate her agreement.

But, having submitted funds and booked a meeting with them, her relatives had doubts.

Subsequent checking showed hundreds of people reporting they had paid money and received no benefit from the service. Indeed, they had lost money. Significant sums.

Our team commenced probing what was happening. It soon emerged that there were questionable operators operating in the vacation property industry.

One lawyer had many grievance cases waiting to sue the organization.

Reporters contacted clients who had engaged the company and they each reported similar experiences. They thought the company would purchase their timeshare from them but when they participated in a session (for which they paid up front) they were told there was no re-sale value.

Instead, they were pushed - indeed compelled - to spend more money acquiring "the company's points system", linked to the business's umbrella group, Monster Travel.

What exactly these were was not exactly clear. They sounded like a form of credit, offering reduced-price holidays and services and retail offers.

And they were apparently "tradable" with fellow investors, some time down the line.

Paying cash immediately would lead to an long-term benefit that would pay for the firm's costs and leave the property owner ahead financially, liberated eventually from their burdensome contract.

An unrealistic promise? Indeed, it was.

A 'Bait-and-Switch Tactic'

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

The technique is termed a "misleading sales."

Someone - specifically the organization - "lures the consumer by promoting a defined offering but then to state it cannot be provided, pushing the client towards an alternative, lesser option.

Such practices are unlawful. Equipped with all the accounts we had gathered, we argued to secretly film one of the company's meetings.

The process requires dedication, work, and clear arguments for why this is the sole method to gather the information necessary to confirm deceptive practices.

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

Acting as a member of the public hoping to assist his parent released from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement