25 Timeshare Frauds Arrested in Spain
by Transfer America on December 21st, 2010
filed under Transfer America
In Madrid, Spain Friday, the Spanish authorities were responsible for the arrest of 25 people who are suspected of participating in a 13 million dollar fraudulent scheme that targeted German owners of different timeshare properties located in the Canary Islands.
The suspects in the case are being accused of contacting different timeshare owners and offering them lucrative terms in buying their timeshare, promising to pay them much more than the owners thought they would be able to get for the timeshare. Then the scam artists would tell the timeshare owners that there was a small transfer fee and several small taxes, all of which do not actually exist. After they would pay these fees, the scammers would split and were never heard from again.
The area in Spain where most timeshares that were involved in the scam were located
The timeshare properties of course never actually changed hands once and the men were not heard from until they would all regroup to begin another scam in another area. Authorities eventually arrested 23 German men, one Polish suspect, and one Swiss suspect last week.
With the assistance of the German Embassy in Madrid, detectives were able to find the suspects, who were mostly located on the Tenerife Island. The men are currently facing up to six years in prison if they are in fact convicted of the fraud.
Many owners have tried to sell their property, usually finding depressed prices, not the lucrative terms that the suspects allegedly offered to the German timeshare owners which is the biggest reason why timeshare owners are so often scammed in this way.
