English Couple Guilty of Solicitor Scam
July 21, 2021
We have been warned by Grupo Vidanta that scams are on the rise. We all have been contacted by one group or another claiming to represent buyers or renters willing to pay large sums for available weeks or contracts. There are also groups that claim to be lawyers working to recover money paid to timeshare companies by owners who claim promises were not kept by the sellers of timeshare interests.Well today, the BBC reported a couple pleaded guilty of swindling elderly timeshare owners out of nearly $500,000 by claiming to be solicitors working to recover money from specific timeshare developers. This is a very timely article, and similar scams are circulating among us now. Take heed:
Stockport couple stole £580k in solicitor timeshare scam
A couple who admitted conning vulnerable and elderly people out of more than £580,000 by pretending to be a firm of solicitors have been jailed.
Caroline Preston and Sean Thompson, 48, claimed they were recovering lost funds from failed timeshare investments.
Greater Manchester Police said instead they swindled cash out of the victims.
At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Thompson was jailed for six and a half years while Preston, both of Stockport, was jailed for three years.
Thompson, 48, pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and Preston, 39, both of Churchill Crescent in Reddish, admitted five counts of the same offense.
Greater Manchester Police said it would now seek to retrieve any proceeds of their crimes from the couple.
"What Thompson and Preston did to vulnerable and elderly people is shocking," Det Con Shaun Nicholls said.
"I hope this outcome provides the victims with a sense of closure."
He warned members of the public to be vigilant of discussing money with third parties, especially when sending funds or providing account details.