Timeshare Scam

There’s a rumor going around that Lindsay Lohan has bought a California timeshare. To make the story even more titillating, Lindsay Lohan’s purchase is described as a “rehab time share” in an online article by the entertainment industry spoof website Dateline Hollywood.

It is true that there are timeshare resorts to suit a wide variety of needs and interests. In the past, I have written about urban timeshare, timeshare houseboats, and even timeshares for nudists, but to the very best of my knowledge, there is currently no such thing as a rehab time share. This story is a scam—an industry spoof of the daily headlines.

The Lindsay Lohan timeshare story quoted her as saying, “I realized that I was pouring money down the drain by renting a room every time I go into rehab.” While Lindsay Lohan probably did not say that, or anything close to that, the theory behind the statement is dead-on. Any time your vacation, business, or personal travel takes you back to the same location, time after time, it is usually a wise move to buy timeshare or a timeshare resale. And if a California timeshare interests you, there are great deals available in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

Dateline Hollywood is all about making the entertainment industry even more entertaining with articles that parody the activities of news making celebrities like Lindsay Lohan. And when you think about it, it must be a challenge to come up with spoofs that are more outrageous than what some celebrities and so-called celebrities are actually doing that makes the headlines.

Here’s a great short interview with Lindsay Lohan, filmed in 1997, just after she made Disney’s The Parent Trap. The interview, about her experience during the filming is credited to Entertainment Tonight and ETOnline.

John Palmer, aka, Goldfinger, was arrested last week in Tenerife, accused of heading an international criminal network. Specifically, the charges included trafficking in drugs and weapons, counterfeiting, bribing public officials, assault, and cheating tourists.

Palmer served jail time commencing in 2001 for conning thousands of people out of money in a timeshare scam that totaled roughly 30 million British pounds. The timeshare scam involved unscrupulous sales people trained to overwhelm timeshare buyers with language and paperwork so confusing and so complex that people gave up trying to understand it and simply turned over their money. Timeshare buyers were convinced they would profit by buying a timeshare, reselling it, and then buying timeshare again. Some 17,000 people—primarily tourists visiting in Europe—fell victim to the scam. But Goldfinger’s timeshare rip-off wasn’t his first brush with the law.

In 1983, a Brinks-Mat warehouse was robbed, in what at the time, was the UK’s largest robbery ever. Three tons of gold ingots, traveler’s checks, and diamonds were heisted from the warehouse. Palmer was not charged as a member of the robbery gang. He was, however, indicted, but was later cleared of charges that he maintained a smelter pot and melted the gold bullion for those who were directly involved in the crime. Among other unproven charges, he was also suspected to have been involved in helping a double murderer, and member of the Brinks-Mat heist, flee the country and evade arrest.

As if Goldfinger’s life doesn’t already sound more like a gripping novel than anyone’s reality, the court-ordered compensation for his charges in the timeshare scam (a mere 35 million-plus pounds) were later dismissed because of “procedural blunders by the court”. Apparently, US court aren’t the only ones that sometimes have their problems.

If the words Tenerife and timeshares sound familiar, it may be because just last year, two of Goldfinger’s former employees in the timeshare scam where brutally murdered in a case that remains unsolved.

It goes without saying, never sign your name to paperwork you do not fully understand, no matter what you are buying. Do not let timeshare sales people pressure you into signing on the spot in order to receive a reduced price, and be sure you know up front what the rescission period is for the state or country in which your contract is being executed. Lastly, if that nagging little voice in your head says you should be wary, then listen to it. There are plenty of timeshares, both new and resale, which you can purchase at excellent prices in fair and legal transactions.

Missouri Secretary of State’s Office issues cease and desist orders over possible timeshare investment fraud.

Robin Carnahan, Missouri Secretary of State, has issued cease and desist orders against four Missouri men, a business in Panama, two Mexican businesses, and a Nevada promoter. Allegedly, the group has targeted Missouri residents, all of whom are between the ages of 64 and 86, for an “investment” deal that promised returns between 9 and 11 percent for 25 years.

After investing a minimum of $5,000 each, the individuals were told that their “investment” was actually a timeshare resort property in Cancun, Mexico. Sell My Timeshare NOW reminds you, timeshares should never be purchased as an investment for financial return.

Timeshare vacation property offers an excellent way to “invest” in a vacation lifestyle. Timeshare units afford you a way to lock-in today’s vacation prices for a lifetime of vacation accommodations. And timeshares are one of the easiest ways for busy families to manage their vacation planning. In many cases, when timeshares are owned as deeded property, the timeshare can be left through your legal will to your heir, providing generations of vacation enjoyment. But timeshare ownership, as rewarding as it can be, should never be entered into as an investment for the purpose of realizing financial gain. Not only is it unethical to represent timeshares as investments, it also violates Securities and Exchange Commission laws.

In the Missouri case, the investments totaled $1.8 million. According to an article in the Kansas City Star, “Carnahan’s office said the investments were not registered in Missouri and the investors did not understand that they had to manage their timeshare units themselves.”

In other words, the only way for the new timeshare property owners to earn a return on the money they spent on timeshare intervals, is for them to use it as timeshare rental properties. Saddest of all is the news that some of the money these people spent was from their retirement funds or other annuities, or from certificates of deposit and IRAs, representing money that is critical to their support.

The businesses named in the cease and desist order are: Yucatan Resorts (Mexico); Resort Holdings International (Mexico); Majesty Travel (Panama); and Resort Holdings International (Nevada, US). Action against these companies may also be taken in Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and New Mexico.

Lastly, let me take this opportunity to remind you that, if you are interested in Mexico timeshare, there are excellent, legitimate ways to purchase it as a Mexico timeshare resale, Cancun timeshare resale, Mexico timeshare rental, or Cancun timeshare rental.

Timeshare fraudster facing up to five years in prison.

Vladislav “Steven” Zubkis, a businessman from San Diego, has admitting to defrauding investors of more than $1.8 million in two different investment schemes.

Zubkis, a Ukrainian-born immigrant, has been in the business of swindling others for several years. In 2001, a federal judge imposed a $21.5 million judgment against Zubkis, and banned him from being an executive or officer in any public company, after he sold stock in what turned out to be a bogus chain of coffee houses. Zubkis ignored the ban and has been hard at work on other fraudulent schemes, one involving the purchase of a Las Vegas casino and another, the proposed construction of a storage facility. For his efforts, Zubkis now faces up to five years in prison; $250,000 in fines; and $1.8 million in court-ordered restitution, to be followed by deportation from the United States.

And what’s the good news here for the timeshare industry?

One more timeshare fraudster is out of business. At the time of his arrest, Zubkis was promoting a luxury timeshare housing development in Baja, California. He was promising investors, that for their $13,000 investment, they would see profits between one and three quarters of a million dollars.