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

Altogether 14 people have been convicted for their role in a multi-million pound conspiracy to cheat more than 3,500 timeshare investors.

The affected individuals were keen to get out of long-standing vacation property deals and went looking for support.

A large number were in the age range of 60 and 80. More than 500 of them lost in excess of £10,000, and one individual paid over £80,000.

Those victimized were faced high-pressure presentations lasting up to six hours. They were financially worse off, owning useless fake "rewards" and still locked into expensive holiday ownership agreements they often use.

The Firm Behind the Scam

The company at the core of the scheme was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They accepted people's money to finance the owners' lavish way of life of exclusive education, high-end properties and exclusive air travel.

The individual at the helm of the organization, the main defendant, was handed a seven-and-half year prison term in January for conspiracy to defraud.

Recently, his spouse Nicola was part of the concluding cases to hear their sentences.

She was handed a 24-month suspended prison term at the judicial venue after admitting money laundering.

This has been a extended wait and signifies a huge win for the victims who came forward, the authorities and legal representatives.

How the Probe Started

I first heard about the company came in the summer of 2016. The position was in the reporting team of a news organization, creating documentary shows.

A friend pointed out that his mum had assumed the ownership of a timeshare apartment in a European resort and, after years of holidays, had started seeking to get out of the contract.

It should be noted how popular timeshares had become with British holidaymakers in the eighties and nineties.

Holiday ownership enabled individuals to occupy the equivalent unit each season, or swap their vacation periods with other owners who had properties in different locations. Roughly 600,000 holiday enthusiasts took up that opportunity.

The initial boom was linked to a lot of reports about rip-off merchants mis-selling properties. They appeared frequently on investigative shows.

The typical timeshare contract bound owners for long periods.

By 2016, those holders who had enjoyed their regular accommodation in the resort for 20 or 30 years were advancing in years, and a large proportion were looking to wave goodbye to their vacation investments.

Some had reduced ability to travel and were unable to visit their apartments. Others just thought they'd achieved their goals from them. And a portion had deceased, in numerous instances passing on their heirs to take over the contracts - including their annual payments and maintenance fees.

The Investigation Develops

It was at this point the friend's mum had found herself. She looked online for solutions and discovered the company, a business whose website claimed to get her out of her agreement.

But, having submitted funds and arranged an appointment with them, her relatives had doubts.

Additional investigation uncovered numerous individuals claiming they had submitted funds and got nothing out of it. In fact, they had been left out of pocket. A lot of it.

Our team started looking into what was happening. It soon emerged that there were some shady characters active in the timeshare resale sector.

One lawyer had hundreds of individual complaints preparing to take action against the organization.

We spoke to clients who had used the firm and they each reported similar experiences. They thought the business would acquire their investment off them but when they went to a consultation (for which they paid up front) they were informed there was no re-sale value.

Rather, they were persuaded - in fact pressured - to invest additional funds investing in "the company's points system", associated with the organization's holding firm, Monster Travel.

The precise definition was somewhat vague. They sounded like a kind of currency, providing discount travel and amenities and retail offers.

And they were reportedly "transferable with fellow investors, eventually.

Paying cash at the time would produce an future return that would cover the firm's costs and allow the investor in profit, released finally from their burdensome deal.

An unrealistic promise? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Bait-and-Switch Tactic'

If these accounts were correct, this was a large-scale fraud.

It's what is called a "deceptive marketing."

An operator - in this case the company - "attracts the client by marketing a specific service only to then say that's not available, directing the individual to another, inferior product or service.

Such practices are unlawful. Armed with all the testimony we had gathered, we made the case to covertly record one of the organization's sessions.

Such an operation demands time, effort, and clear arguments for why this is the only way to gather the evidence needed to demonstrate illegal activity.

Armed with that permission, our compact group organized a meeting with one of the company's representatives in the English town.

Acting as a ordinary individual wanting to get his mum out of her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement