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Prosecutors have labeled it as one of the largest scams of its type in the UK.

In all 14 individuals have been found guilty for their part in a multi-million pound plot to swindle over 3,500 timeshare holders.

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

The majority were in the age range of 60 and 80. Over 500 of them lost more than £10,000, and a single victim paid over £80,000.

Those victimized were faced aggressive sales meetings continuing for six hours. They were financially worse off, holding valueless fake "points" and remained trapped in high-priced timeshare contracts they frequently were unable to use.

The Business Behind the Fraud

The company at the heart of the fraud was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They accepted clients' cash to support the directors' lavish way of life of prestigious schooling, millionaire mansions and private jets.

The man at the helm of the firm, the main defendant, was sentenced to a seven-and-half year sentence in January for conspiracy to defraud.

On Friday, his wife Nicola was among the last group to learn their fate.

She received a two-year long deferred imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court after confessing to illegal fund handling.

It has been a lengthy process and represents a significant success for the victims who came forward, the law enforcement and prosecutors.

How the Investigation Started

I first heard about the firm came in the that particular year. I was working in the investigations unit of a broadcasting service, making investigative shows.

A acquaintance mentioned that his mother had taken over the use of a holiday property in Spain and, after decades of vacations, had started seeking to exit the deal.

It should be noted how common vacation properties had become with British holidaymakers in the eighties and nineties.

Holiday ownership enabled families to use the identical property annually, or exchange their vacation periods with fellow investors who had properties in different locations. Approximately 600,000 vacation seekers took up that option.

The initial boom was paired with a numerous reports about dishonest operators mis-selling investments. They became a staple on consumer TV programmes.

The typical timeshare contract bound owners for decades.

At that time, those investors who had used their assigned property in the sun for decades were ageing, and a large proportion were hoping to say farewell to their timeshares.

Some had reduced ability to travel and were unable to visit their units. Some just thought they'd achieved their goals from them. And a portion had passed away, in frequent situations passing on their heirs to take over the deals - including their yearly fees and upkeep costs.

The Covert Probe Develops

And that's where the relative had found herself. She looked online for options and discovered the organization, a business whose online presence promised to terminate her deal.

But, having made a payment and scheduled a consultation with them, her family became suspicious.

Additional investigation revealed hundreds of people claiming they had paid money and achieved no result in return. Indeed, they had been left out of pocket. A lot of it.

Our team commenced probing what was occurring. It soon emerged that there were some shady characters operating in the timeshare resale sector.

A legal professional had numerous client reports aiming to litigate against the company.

The team interviewed people who had dealt with the organization and they each reported similar experiences. They thought the business would buy their property from them but when they participated in a session (for which they made an advance payment) they were informed there was no potential buyers.

Instead, they were pushed - in fact coerced - to invest additional funds investing in "the company's points system", associated with the organization's holding firm, the overarching entity.

The precise definition was somewhat vague. They appeared to be a kind of currency, providing discount travel and benefits and consumer discounts.

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

Paying cash immediately would lead to an eventual payoff that would cover SMT's fees and leave the property owner in profit, liberated eventually from their pesky agreement.

An unrealistic promise? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Deceptive Scheme'

Assuming these reports were true, this was a major deception.

It's what is called a "misleading sales."

An operator - here the organization - "lures the client by advertising a specific service only to then state it cannot be provided, steering the customer towards another, inferior option.

This is against the law. Armed with all the evidence we had assembled, we presented the rationale to secretly film one of the company's meetings.

The process requires dedication, work, and strong justifications for why this is the exclusive approach to obtain the evidence required to confirm deceptive practices.

Armed with that permission, our small team organized a meeting with one of the organization's staff in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Posing as a ordinary individual aiming to assist his parent released from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement