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Authorities have called it as among the biggest frauds of its nature in the UK.

Altogether 14 people have been convicted for their part in a multi-million pound scheme to swindle in excess of 3,500 timeshare investors.

The targets were keen to terminate decades-old holiday ownership agreements and sought out support.

The majority were in the age range of 60 and 80. More than 500 of them parted with more than £10,000, and a single victim transferred more than £80,000.

Those victimized were exposed to aggressive sales meetings extending for six hours. They were financially worse off, owning valueless fake "points" and still locked into high-priced holiday ownership agreements they frequently were unable to use.

The Company Behind the Fraud

The business at the core of the scheme was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They took customers' funds to finance the proprietors' luxurious way of life of exclusive education, luxury homes and personal aircraft.

The leader at the helm of the company, the company director, was handed a seven and a half year sentence in January for deceptive scheme.

In the latest development, his partner Nicola was one of the final three to receive sentencing.

She received a two-year long suspended prison term at the London court after admitting illegal fund handling.

The outcome represents a extended wait and signifies a major victory for the people who spoke out, the police and legal representatives.

How the Inquiry Began

The first knowledge of the company was in the summer of 2016. I was working in the reporting team of a news organization, making documentary features.

A acquaintance mentioned that his parent had assumed the rights of a vacation unit in a European resort and, after years of holidays, had begun looking to exit the contract.

It should be noted how popular holiday ownership had grown with UK travelers in the eighties and nineties.

Timeshares permitted families to occupy the same accommodation each season, or swap their weeks with fellow investors who had apartments in different locations. Roughly 600,000 holiday enthusiasts took up that option.

The first timeshare rush was paired with a many reports about rip-off merchants deceptively promoting properties. They appeared frequently on consumer broadcasts.

The standard holiday ownership agreement locked buyers for long periods.

At that time, those holders who had used their guaranteed place in the sunshine for 20 or 30 years were advancing in years, and a large proportion were hoping to end their association to their timeshares.

A number had declining mobility and found it difficult to access their properties. Others just thought they'd got all they wanted from them. And a portion had deceased, in numerous instances bequeathing their heirs to take over the agreements - plus their annual payments and upkeep costs.

The Undercover Operation Unfolds

And that's where the relative had found herself. She looked online for answers and discovered the organization, a firm whose digital platform promised to release her from her contract.

Yet, having submitted funds and scheduled a consultation with them, her loved ones had doubts.

Additional investigation uncovered hundreds of people claiming they had handed over cash and achieved no result out of it. In fact, they had suffered financially. Substantial amounts.

The investigative unit started looking into what was happening. It quickly became clear that there were dubious individuals active in the holiday ownership market.

A legal professional had numerous client reports waiting to sue the company.

We spoke to clients who had used the firm and they collectively described identical situations. They believed the business would buy their property off them but when they went to a consultation (for which they submitted funds initially) they were informed there was no market for their property.

Rather, they were pushed - actually coerced - to spend more money acquiring "the company's points system", named after the business's umbrella group, the parent organization.

What exactly these were was not exactly clear. They appeared to be a kind of currency, providing reduced-price holidays and amenities and shopping deals.

And they were apparently "exchangeable with additional holders, eventually.

Investing money immediately would produce an eventual payoff that would pay for the firm's costs and result in the property owner with a gain, liberated eventually from their troublesome contract.

Too good to be true? Well, yes.

A 'Deceptive Scheme'

Based on these descriptions were true, this was a major deception.

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

A business - here SMT - "baits" the customer by promoting a particular product only to then claim it is unavailable, steering the individual to a different, lower-quality option.

Such practices are unlawful. Possessing all the accounts we had collected, we argued to secretly film one of the company's meetings.

The process requires dedication, work, and clear arguments for why this is the exclusive approach to gather the data necessary to prove wrongdoing.

With approval secured, our small team organized a meeting with one of the organization's staff in the English town.

Acting as a ordinary individual aiming to help his mother out of her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement