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Prosecutors have labeled it as one of the largest scams of its type in the UK.

In all 14 defendants have been convicted for their part in a £28m plot to swindle over 3,500 timeshare investors.

The targets were desperate to exit age-old vacation property deals and went looking for support.

The majority were from 60 and 80. Over 500 of them lost in excess of £10,000, and a single victim handed over more than £80,000.

Those targeted were faced intense consultations lasting up to six hours. They were left out of pocket, possessing useless fake "rewards" and remained trapped in costly timeshare contracts they often use.

The Company Behind the Fraud

The company at the heart of the scam was the organization in question. They accepted clients' cash to fund the proprietors' lavish way of life of private schools, luxury homes and exclusive air travel.

The leader at the top of the company, Mark Rowe, was given a seven and a half year sentence in January for conspiracy to defraud.

On Friday, his partner Nicola was one of the final three to receive sentencing.

She received a 24-month suspended prison term at Southwark Crown Court after admitting financial crime.

This has been a lengthy process and marks a huge win for the individuals who testified, the law enforcement and the Crown.

How the Probe Started

The initial awareness of the company came in the that particular year. I was working in the investigations unit of a news organization, creating investigative programmes.

A friend noted that his mum had taken over the use of a timeshare apartment in the Spanish coast and, after decades of vacations, had begun looking to get out of the agreement.

It is important to recall how popular timeshares had grown with British holidaymakers in the 1980s and 1990s.

Timeshares enabled individuals to use the identical property each season, or swap their vacation periods with fellow investors who had apartments in other resorts. Approximately 600,000 holiday enthusiasts seized that option.

The first timeshare rush was linked to a numerous stories about rip-off merchants mis-selling units. They appeared frequently on investigative TV programmes.

The typical vacation property deal locked buyers for many years.

In that period, those investors who had enjoyed their guaranteed place in the sun for a long time were ageing, and a significant number were looking to say farewell to their timeshares.

Some had health issues and couldn't get to their apartments. Others just believed they'd enjoyed sufficient use from them. And a portion had died, in numerous instances bequeathing their heirs to inherit the contracts - along with their regular contributions and service charges.

The Undercover Operation Progresses

And that's where the family member had found herself. She browsed the internet for solutions and came across the organization, a enterprise whose website promised to terminate her agreement.

But, having submitted funds and booked a meeting with them, her family had doubts.

Further research showed many victims reporting they had submitted funds and received no benefit out of it. In fact, they had lost money. Substantial amounts.

Our team commenced probing what was going on. It quickly became clear that there were questionable operators operating in the holiday ownership market.

An attorney had numerous client reports aiming to litigate against the company.

The team interviewed clients who had engaged the company and they all told the same story. They assumed the firm would acquire their investment from them but when they attended a meeting (for which they paid up front) they were informed there was no re-sale value.

In place of that, they were persuaded - indeed compelled - to commit further cash investing in "the firm's incentive scheme", linked to the organization's holding firm, Monster Travel.

The precise definition was rather ambiguous. They appeared to be a form of credit, giving access to cheaper vacations and amenities and consumer discounts.

And they were apparently "tradable" with fellow investors, at a future date.

Committing funds immediately would produce an future return that would pay for the firm's costs and allow the investor ahead financially, released finally from their burdensome agreement.

An unrealistic promise? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Bait-and-Switch Scam'

Assuming these reports were correct, this was a massive scam.

This is known as a "bait-and-switch."

An operator - specifically the company - "attracts the customer by advertising a specific service and then say that's not available, steering the customer in the direction of an alternative, lesser product or service.

Such practices are unlawful. Equipped with all the accounts we had assembled, we made the case to secretly film one of the organization's sessions.

Such an operation demands commitment, energy, and strong justifications for why this is the only way to collect the data necessary to confirm deceptive practices.

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

Posing as a potential client aiming to get his mum free from her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement