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It has been described as a major frauds of its type in the UK.

In all 14 people have been found guilty for their role in a £28m scheme to defraud over 3,500 timeshare investors.

The targets were desperate to exit age-old holiday ownership agreements and went looking for help.

The majority were in the age range of 60 and 80. In excess of 500 of them lost more than £10,000, and a single victim paid over £80,000.

Those affected were exposed to high-pressure presentations extending for six hours. They were left out of pocket, possessing worthless fake "credits" and remained locked into high-priced timeshare contracts they often use.

The Company At the Heart of the Deception

The firm at the centre of the scheme was the organization in question. They collected clients' cash to fund the directors' opulent lifestyle of prestigious schooling, millionaire mansions and exclusive air travel.

The man at the top of the organization, the company director, was given a seven and a half year prison term in January for deceptive scheme.

On Friday, his partner one of the co-defendants was among the last group to learn their fate.

She was given a two-year suspended prison term at the judicial venue after pleading guilty to illegal fund handling.

The outcome represents a lengthy process and represents a huge win for the victims who came forward, the authorities and prosecutors.

The Way the Inquiry Started

The first knowledge of the firm was in the mid-2016. I was working in the research department of a broadcasting service, producing documentary features.

A friend noted that his parent had taken over the rights of a timeshare apartment in Spain and, after decades of vacations, had started seeking to get out of the contract.

It is important to recall how common holiday ownership had evolved with UK travelers in the eighties and nineties.

Vacation properties permitted people to access the equivalent unit every year, or trade their time slots with other owners who had apartments in alternative destinations. Roughly 600,000 sun-lovers accepted that opportunity.

The first timeshare rush was linked to a numerous stories about unscrupulous sellers mis-selling units. They became a staple on consumer shows.

The typical vacation property deal tied investors in for many years.

By 2016, those owners who had experienced their regular accommodation in the resort for 20 or 30 years were ageing, and a large proportion were looking to end their association to their holiday properties.

A number had reduced ability to travel and found it difficult to access their units. Others just believed they'd achieved their goals from them. And others had deceased, in many cases passing on their loved ones to inherit the agreements - along with their annual payments and upkeep costs.

The Covert Probe Develops

This was the situation the family member had found herself. She searched the web for answers and found the company, a firm whose online presence promised to release her from her agreement.

However, having made a payment and booked a meeting with them, her loved ones became suspicious.

Additional investigation showed hundreds of people saying they had paid money and received no benefit in return. Indeed, they had been left out of pocket. Significant sums.

The reporting group commenced probing what was occurring. It soon emerged that there were some shady characters active in the timeshare resale sector.

A legal professional had hundreds of individual complaints aiming to litigate against the company.

The team interviewed individuals who had used the firm and they each reported similar experiences. They assumed the company would acquire their investment away from them but when they went to a consultation (for which they submitted funds initially) they were advised there was no market for their property.

In place of that, they were persuaded - in fact compelled - to spend more money acquiring "Monster Rewards", linked to the business's umbrella group, Monster Travel.

The precise definition was rather ambiguous. They appeared to be a kind of currency, providing cheaper vacations and amenities and consumer discounts.

And they were reportedly "tradable" with other owners, some time down the line.

Committing funds up front now would produce an long-term benefit that would offset SMT's fees and result in the timeshare holder with a gain, liberated eventually from their pesky deal.

An unbelievable offer? Well, yes.

A 'Deceptive Scheme'

If these accounts were accurate, this was a large-scale fraud.

This is known as a "misleading sales."

An operator - specifically the company - "attracts the customer by marketing a specific service and then say that's not available, steering the individual to an alternative, lesser option.

Such practices are unlawful. Possessing all the testimony we had collected, we made the case 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 obtain the information necessary to demonstrate illegal activity.

Once authorized, our small team arranged a meeting with one of the company's representatives in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Posing as a potential client aiming to assist his parent out of her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement