Wesley Scott Aldred, from Kissimmee, Florida has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for violating the conditions of his probation order. He was previously convicted for telemarketing fraud in 2015, for participating in a timeshare resale fraudulent scheme. The company, named Premier Timeshare Solutions, defrauded timeshare owners all over the United States, including South Illinois, where Mr Aldred is currently serving his sentence.
Whilst on probation for that conviction, Aldred was found to be engaging in a similar telemarketing scam which targeted Timeshare owners. Aldred and nine other defendants were indicted in May 2014 for felony charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The scheme was a telemarketing scam, which fraudulently obtained $14.5 million form more than 7,000 timeshare owners based in the United States and Canada.
In 2015, Aldred pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 1 day in prison and fined £750. He was also placed on a probation order for 2 years.
Aldred and the 9 other defendants were employees of C&G Marketing Associates, a Florida based company which, in 2009, defrauded timeshare owners across America under the name Premier Timeshare Solutions. Telemarketers phoned timeshare owners stating they had buyers ready to purchase their unwanted timeshare burden. Customers would be coerced into paying advance fees which exceeded $1,000. Premier Timeshare Solutions would then promise to complete the sales on behalf of the timeshare owner and forward the proceeds to them on completion of sale.
Unsurprisingly, Premier Timeshare Solutions simply pocketed the money from their victims and the timeshares remained unsold.
The timeshare resale victims who attempted to call Premier Timeshare Solutions were simply fobbed off and lied to. They were given excuse after excuse, often delaying customers so they would not try to reclaim the money they had spent with Premier Timeshare Solutions. The sales staff were directed by the mastermind behind the scam, Mr Jose Goyos. Mr Goyos instructed staff to delay timeshare owners from claiming a chargeback through their banks.
Chargeback is used in the United States if a customer is unhappy with the purchase for any reason. It works in a similar way to the UK’s Section 75 of the consumer credit act. Which guarantees consumers their money back where there has been misrepresentation or a breach of contract. The chargeback time limit is calculated based on either 120 calendar days after the transaction processing date, or 120 calendar days after the last date the cardholder expected to receive the goods or services. The aim was to delay customers until after this period, so they could not claim back their money. The company never had any intention of carrying out any services for any timeshare owners.
In May 2014, Jose Goyos was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Despite this and having been placed on probation, Aldred continued to defraud Timeshare owners unscrupulously, until he was caught and sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by 39 month’s probation.
The mis-selling of holiday products is, unfortunately, common practice within the holiday industry and these types of crimes often go unreported by the most vulnerable in our society and criminal convictions are few and far between.
If you have purchased a lifestyle or concierge service, a timeshare or a holiday points based product from a resort or company and feel unhappy with the service, or feel you have been mis-sold this product, please get in touch with us to discuss how we may be able to help you with a possible Money Back Claim.
Call us today on: 0800 470 3900
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