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

In all 14 defendants have been found guilty for their part in a multi-million pound plot to swindle in excess of 3,500 holiday ownership investors.

The targets were keen to get out of age-old holiday ownership agreements and tried to find help.

The majority were from 60 and 80. More than 500 of them parted with in excess of £10,000, and one handed over in excess of £80,000.

Those victimized were subjected to aggressive consultations extending for six hours. They were left out of pocket, holding useless fake "rewards" and remained locked into costly timeshare contracts they frequently were unable to use.

The Company Central to the Deception

The firm at the centre of the scheme was the organization in question. They took customers' funds to fund the owners' lavish way of life of exclusive education, high-end properties and personal aircraft.

The individual at the head of the organization, the company director, was given a 90-month prison term in January for fraudulent conspiracy.

Recently, his spouse Nicola was part of the concluding cases to learn their fate.

She received a two-year deferred imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering.

This has been a lengthy process and marks a huge win for the individuals who testified, the police and prosecutors.

The Way the Inquiry Started

The first knowledge of the company came in the that particular year. I was working in the investigations unit of a news organization, creating current affairs features.

A acquaintance pointed out that his parent had inherited the rights of a timeshare apartment in the Spanish coast and, after years of holidays, had begun looking to exit the deal.

It's worth mentioning how popular timeshares had grown with UK travelers in the eighties and nineties.

Vacation properties permitted people to access the same accommodation each season, or swap their time slots with additional holders who had properties in alternative destinations. About 600,000 vacation seekers accepted that chance.

The initial boom was linked to a lot of stories about rip-off merchants deceptively promoting investments. They became a staple on consumer TV programmes.

The typical vacation property deal locked buyers for decades.

In that period, those holders who had used their assigned property in the sun for decades were ageing, and a significant number were attempting to say farewell to their holiday properties.

Several had reduced ability to travel and couldn't get to their apartments. A few just felt they'd enjoyed sufficient use from them. And a portion had died, in numerous instances bequeathing their heirs to assume the agreements - plus their annual payments and maintenance fees.

The Undercover Operation Develops

It was at this point the family member had found herself. She looked online for solutions and came across the organization, a firm whose website assured to terminate her agreement.

Yet, having submitted funds and scheduled a consultation with them, her family smelled a rat.

Further research uncovered numerous individuals claiming they had submitted funds and received no benefit out of it. Actually, they had lost money. Substantial amounts.

Our team began investigating what was going on. It quickly became clear that there were questionable operators operating in the holiday ownership market.

One lawyer had many grievance cases aiming to litigate against the company.

Reporters contacted individuals who had used the firm and they all told the same story. They believed the company would purchase their timeshare off them but when they participated in a session (for which they made an advance payment) they were informed there was no market for their property.

In place of that, they were pushed - actually pressured - to spend more money investing in "the company's points system", associated with the business's umbrella group, the parent organization.

The nature of these rewards was not exactly clear. They appeared to be a kind of currency, offering cheaper vacations and amenities and consumer discounts.

And they were apparently "exchangeable with other owners, some time down the line.

Committing funds up front now would result in an long-term benefit that would pay for the company's charges and leave the timeshare holder with a gain, liberated eventually from their pesky deal.

An unbelievable offer? Indeed, it was.

A 'Deceptive Tactic'

If these accounts were correct, this was a major deception.

The technique is termed a "bait-and-switch."

An operator - specifically the organization - "lures the consumer by marketing a particular product but then to claim it is unavailable, pushing the client in the direction of an alternative, lesser offering.

Such practices are unlawful. Armed with all the evidence we had assembled, we presented the rationale to discreetly video one of the firm's consultations.

Such an operation demands time, effort, and compelling reasons for why this is the exclusive approach to collect the information necessary to prove wrongdoing.

Once authorized, our limited crew organized a appointment with one of the firm's agents in the location.

Posing as a potential client hoping to help his mother free from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement