Timeshare Scam in Oregon is Classic “Bad Investment Scheme”
Friday, October 9, 2009
KTVZ.com released news yesterday that the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services has levied fines in excess of $2 million against companies and individuals from the US, Mexico, and Panama, who were involved in an investment scam. The fraudulent deal claimed more than $428 million dollars from individual investors.
This unlawful soliciting of funds from Oregon residents, many of them elderly, involved a complicated strategy where unregistered securities were sold as an investment. The securities involved Mexico timeshare along the Yucatan Peninsula, which the investors were told would be rented and would yield a high yearly return to them. According to the sales pitch consumers received, related or affiliated companies would rent these Mexico timeshares through universal leases.
David Tatman, administrator for the Division of Finance and Corporate Securities (DFCS) says, “It’s unfortunate that many elderly Oregonians lost their hard-earned retirement funds by unwittingly investing in this scheme.”
He explains, “… the subject of the fraudulent investments can be diverse—from timeshares to technology to commodities like silver and gold—the one characteristic they share is that they are sold by agents who are not licensed to sell securities. State licenses are not ‘one-size-fits-all.’ For example, an insurance agent is by no means automatically authorized to sell investments.”
To find out more about an individual’s credentials and licensing to do business in the state of Oregon, call DFCS Oregon at 1-866-814-9710, 503-378-4140, or go to www.dfcs.oregon.gov
If you have similar concerns or questions, contact the Office of the Attorney General for the state in which you live. At least ten other state securities regulators have filed or concluded a civil action case against the people behind this timeshare investment scam. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also has a pending civil case and the US Department of Justice has a pending criminal case against them.
Bottom line: With major hoteliers and timeshare developers challenged to make suitable return on their massive number of timeshare resorts, it stands to reason that it is virtually impossible for the average person to get into timeshare development as an investment strategy.
But what is a possibility, is that by buying a right-priced Mexico timeshare resale, you and your family could enjoy many years of outstanding vacations.
