A victim of a £28 million scam which saw timeshare sharks con pensioners to fund their lavish lifestyles has told how he lost £14,000, and was treated like ‘scum’ by the fraudsters.
Des, 73, from Surrey, told how the scammers behind firm Sell My Timeshare ‘didn’t care’ about their victims and he was left ‘absolutely gutted’ after realising he had lost the money.
He was one of around 3,500 pensioners who were duped out of a total of £28 million after being persuaded to invest in a bogus holiday and retail voucher scheme on the promise that their timeshare apartments would be sold for bumper profits.
Victims were flown out to the firm’s fake offices in Tenerife and put up in hotels where they were bombarded with six hours of high-pressure sales pitches, promising their investments would double in 14 months.
The meetings saw victims pushed to trade in their timeshares and make an additional payment for the company’s ‘Monster Credits’ scheme, which promised discounts on holidays and shopping, as well as the opportunity to trade them with other customers on a dedicated platform.
In many cases, victims took out loans to purchase the credits, typically investing around £8,000, the CPS said.
They would later discover that not only were the credits worthless, but in most cases, they still owned and incurred the costs of their timeshares.
In total, 3,583 victims across the UK were defrauded out of £28.1 million, with the highest individual loss being £80,000 – all while those behind the scam lived lives of luxury.
Mark and Nicola Rowe (pictured) hired former Hollyoaks actress Julie Peasgood to promote their company offering help to sell timeshares for elderly owners worried about rising maintenance fees – while spending the cash on luxuries such as private jets
Des, 73, from Surrey, told how the scammers behind firm Sell My Timeshare ‘didn’t care’ about their victims and he was left ‘absolutely gutted’ after realising he had lost the money
Des, from Mitcham, Surrey, told the BBC: ‘I was absolutely gutted. It was a kick in the guts really because you were up against a brick wall. There was no way of getting my money back.
‘We were basically the scum. They didn’t care about us normal people. They get greedy and greedier and they were living a life of luxury.’
He recalled being persuaded to take out a loan by the scammers and was later alerted to the fraud by the police.
‘We were devastated because I wanted to retire at the time, but now I couldn’t afford to,’ he said, adding: ‘How do these people sleep at night?’
Fraudsters-in-chief Mark and Nicola Rowe, both 54, hired former Hollyoaks actress Julie Peasgood to promote their company to lure in innocent victims, and are two of 14 people to have been convicted over the scheme.
Senior investigating officer Peter Highway said a ‘lot of the money was spent on luxury’ by managing director Rowe and his wife, who acted as the company’s finance director.
Investigators said the Rowes spent more than £110,000 on private school fees, a house in Hampshire with stables valued at £2.4 million, and £26,000 on one private jet trip to Tenerife.
They added that £8 million was received into Mark and Nicola Rowe’s personal account, with £185,000 spent at art galleries including £31,500 for a pencil sketch by LS Lowry with the title ‘Street Scene’.
Mark Rowe and his wife Nicola enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle splashing out on homes in Tenerife and a £2.4million home in Hampshire
The living room in Mark and Nicola Rowe’s luxury Hampshire home
A double bedroom inside the couple’s luxury house, featuring a stylish interior
And the couple enjoyed £3,600 shopping trips to Selfridges and Harvey Nichols for designer clothing, and spent £9,000 on watches while spending £1,000 a night at the Dorchester Hotel.
Meanwhile their victims, 500 of whom had lost more than £10,000, often ended up deep in debt.
The majority were aged in their 60s to 80s, with the oldest victim aged 94. Some died before they could ever see justice.
One pensioner told the court: ‘I’m now supposed to be retired and enjoying life, but as a result of being a victim of Mark Rowe’s fraud my quality of life has been reduced to a struggle – I’m unable to afford to even pay my own rent.
‘I’ve been a successful businessman all of my life, but feel that I’ve let my wife down, and I cannot see how I can put this right in the time that we have left.’
Rowe, of Los Blanquitos in Tenerife, was sentenced in January to seven-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.
His wife, also of Los Blanquitos in Tenerife, will be sentenced on Friday at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering.
A total of 14 people were convicted following four trials held over two years at Southwark Crown Court – with reporting restrictions in place until Nicola Rowe’s guilty plea.
The fake offices in Tenerife, where the fraudsters took their victims for sales pitches that would last for up to six hours
Victims as old as 94 lost their life savings and pensions after investing as much as £80,000 (Pictured: The brand’s offices in Tenerife)
Following the first trial from October 2023 to October last year, several people were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud including Jodi Beard, 43, of El Roque, Tenerife, who was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, and Paul Harrison, 55, of Weymouth, who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
Also found guilty of conspiracy to defraud were Nihat Paul Salih, 57, of Poole, Dorset, who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment; and Lisa Salih, 56, of Poole, who was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years.
Credits administrator Samantha Macaulay, 52, of San Miguel De Abona, Tenerife, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months after being found guilty of fraud by false representation. Macaulay was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud.
Following the second trial from October last year to February, Simon Walker, 58, of Costa Adeje in Tenerife, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and Joanne Physick, 46, of Los Christianos Arona, Tenerife, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.
After the third trial in June and July, David Taylor, 65, of East Yorkshire, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
Joanne Taylor, 53, of East Yorkshire, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and Lee Evans, 51, of Preston, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years after both pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.
Two people who worked as ‘senior client advisers’, Barrie Fox, 69, of Worcester, and Josephine Cuthill-Fox, 60, of Worcester, will be sentenced on Friday after also pleading guilty to fraud by false representation.
CPS specialist prosecutor Gayle Ramsey said: ‘These defendants acted in a completely selfish and manipulative manner to make huge sums for themselves and exploited timeshare owners, many of whom were elderly.
‘They provided victims with the false hope of disposing of timeshares in exchange for a valuable investment when in reality they were each left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after purchasing something which was worthless.’
