We are very pleased to announce that on Monday the 16th of March 2015 the police of Malaga, the Fraud Squad UDEF has raided over 11 fraudulent companies on the Costa del sol and arrested 60 people.
In the Operation Tormenta (Storm) the police took 60 arrests (56 of them Britons), of which 3 are considered the alleged responsible of the gang, and these 3 have been put into prison.
The other arrests were telemarketers and others involved in the scams from the 11 raided companies.
The investigations from the police squad have taken over 8 months in which Mindtimeshare has been in close contact with them, verifying data, names of alleged criminals involved and company names.
During the police operation they seized over 30.000 euros, 800.000 euros worth in properties, a luxury boat, 6 luxury cars, 49 computers, telephones, a money counting machine and 78 bank accounts were blocked.
The estimated amount seized is approximately a Million Euros.
The police so far has knowledge of about 500 victims but suspects this amount can double or even triple. And we from Mindtimeshare can confirm that indeed the amount will exceed by far the 500 or 1500 victims estimated. The victims are mainly British timeshare owners who have been defrauded out of their money with amounts paid between 300 euros up to 50.000 euros.
The scam was a set up in 3 stages, with the first stage being the cold calling Timeshare resale company, asking for an upfront payment for a guaranteed sale, the second stage a fake lawyer asking for fees and taxes to claim back the money through the court as the resale company “had been closed down, and the last stage fake court officials / notaries calling to say the court claim had been successful but the timeshare owner had to pay taxes and fees to release the money.
As far as the police know, these fraudsters have been operating these scams since 2009 which brings the amount of defrauded money to an estimate of 30 Million Euros.
The arrested will be accused of Crimes of fraud, forgery, money laundering and organized gang membership.
We will be informing about the operation in more details, with the names of the companies involved etc. in due course.
Links in the Spanish and British Press:
http://news.sky.com/story/1446906/timeshare-scam-56-britons-arrested-in-spain
In Spanish:
http://www.elmundo.es/andalucia/2015/03/17/55082077ca4741012c8b4570.html
Mindtimeshare 
Yes I have been called by Half Moon Holdings. I first called you about this company quite a while ago that’s how I got your pages
I am one of many who have been con***. I am glad that they have been found out I am out of pocket by 10,000 pounds.
Sorry the company went by the name SALVEDRA
Hi Gary,
Salvedra appears on our Cold Caller List of July 2014: https://mindtimeshare.me/2014/07/31/cold-caller-list-for-july-2014/
This company was promising to get us a refund from reclaim limited in the region of some £25.000 with no upfront fee’s but after a long winded process we were informed we needed to declare the business transaction with the Spanish tax office and we were required to pay the tax which worked out at just short of £2000 THEN a week or two later we were informed we had to pay a fine for late payment of the tax which was another £900 . We were then informed by the English guy who had been in contact with us all along (JONATHAN GRAHAM) that the central bank of Spain would be in touch directly to transfer the monies to our account here in the uk. This never happened and no way to contact this scumbag Jonathan Graham so beware of this person and bogus company
Today 7 4 15 I received a letter from Leisure Alliance (which was Club Class) demanding £570.00 for Subscription arrears and threatening further action if we do not pay. It was from a Maxwell Hamiton, Club Class Membership Renewals Department Manager, Leisure Alliance PLC. THe telephone number is 0870 224 7994/0208 166 9852. Is this still a scam.
Also I received a telephone call like the above people offering to get a refund. The girl was very pleasant and my husband subsequently found out that it was registered in Belize, South American. When my husband queried this she said that the were registered abroad to save having to pay VAT. She wanted our credit card details which we did not give.
This is wonderful news. Its about time the Spanish police took action against these unscrupulous people who seem to have operated with impunity in Spain for many years. Even better to hear that the three prime suspects are now languishing in a prison cell. I sincerely hope their stay there will be a very long one. I will be very interested to learn further information particularly names of both people and companies.
Keep up the good work Alberto, more results like this and maybe we will see the end of this curse on the timeshare industry.
I have just received an Email from GR8STAYS – Club Class in a new guise. So I assume Premier Travel/Freestay Travel/CASH REBATE – Imagen Sinergica S.L. (Adeje)/Club Class Services Sarl GBP (with Sochalls-London) and Whitebay International were not part of these police raids?????????????
These were by far and way one of the biggest fraudsters together with other various Marketing Agents!
YIPEEE…!!!
This does sound to be very encouraging news. We specifically need to know the names of the companies involved and how to make a claim for compensation. Keep the good work up MIndtimeshare.
I have been victim to 2 companies and would be interested in any help you can give me
That is such good news and I hope that the perpetrators get everything they deserve. And, of course, I hope that the victims will get at least some compensation. But we all know that new companies are already operating. 😔
i will be very interested if Greenges 2005 SL is on your forthcoming list as i have been waiting since June 2011 for promised settlement by their dubious legal services
I hope the victims do receive some compensation. I was scammed by a Company operating like this in Spain and gave statements to the police back in 2010 – hopefully it turns out that they are the same people who scammed me – long prison sentences wouldn’t be enough to put right the distress they have caused!
Good news indeed, Alberto.
Of note, I was called recently by a young lady who said, if I remember correctly, that she was from the European Consumer Association. Actually she appeared to be helpful and did not ask for anything other than my experiences with timeshare resale. She also told me that, if I had paid any deposit by credit card for Club Class membership, then I could seek reimbursement for the entire membership fee. She seemed genuine.
Best wishes
Mike
I, too, had a very pleasant call along the same lines. However when I questioned where she had got our ex-directory, number withheld and Telephone Preference Service number she rather hastily ended the call!!
Do you think that any victims will receive some compensation?
I hope that these criminals receive a long time in prison, for all the distress, caused.
Thank you for helping, Mindtimeshare.
Well said Peter I fully endorse your comments. I will wait and see if the lot that took my money are on any lists. Well done Mindtimeshare for your vigilance and doggedness.Daphne