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

Altogether 14 people have been sentenced for their involvement in a £28 million scheme to swindle more than 3,500 holiday ownership owners.

The targets were desperate to get out of decades-old vacation property deals and went looking for help.

A large number were from 60 and 80. In excess of 500 of them lost over £10,000, and one paid more than £80,000.

Those affected were exposed to aggressive presentations continuing for six hours. They were out of money, possessing useless fake "credits" and continued to be bound by costly holiday ownership agreements they often use.

The Firm Central to the Fraud

The company at the heart of the fraud was Sell My Timeshare (SMT). They accepted customers' funds to support the directors' luxurious lifestyle of exclusive education, luxury homes and private jets.

The individual at the helm of the organization, the company director, was handed a 90-month jail time in January for deceptive scheme.

On Friday, his wife Nicola was one of the final three to learn their fate.

She received a 24-month deferred imprisonment at the London court after admitting illegal fund handling.

The outcome represents a lengthy process and represents a significant success for the individuals who testified, the law enforcement and prosecutors.

How the Probe Started

I first heard about SMT emerged during the that particular year. The position was in the research department of a broadcasting service, making current affairs shows.

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

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

Holiday ownership enabled individuals to access the same accommodation every year, or trade their vacation periods with fellow investors who had properties in different locations. Approximately 600,000 sun-lovers seized that chance.

The first timeshare rush was accompanied by a numerous reports about rip-off merchants fraudulently marketing units. They were regularly featured on consumer broadcasts.

The typical holiday ownership agreement bound owners for decades.

In that period, those owners who had used their guaranteed place in the sun for 20 or 30 years were ageing, and many were attempting to say farewell to their timeshares.

Some had reduced ability to travel and couldn't get to their units. Others just felt they'd achieved their goals from them. And a portion had deceased, in frequent situations passing on their loved ones to inherit the deals - including their annual payments and maintenance fees.

The Undercover Operation Unfolds

It was at this point the relative had ended up. She searched the web for answers and discovered the organization, a enterprise whose digital platform assured to get her out of her deal.

But, having submitted funds and scheduled a consultation with them, her loved ones had doubts.

Further research showed hundreds of people reporting they had paid money and got nothing in return. Indeed, they had been left out of pocket. A lot of it.

The investigative unit began investigating what was going on. It was rapidly apparent that there were dubious individuals working within the holiday ownership market.

An attorney had hundreds of individual complaints waiting to sue the organization.

Reporters contacted people who had dealt with the organization and they all told the same story. They believed the company would acquire their investment off them but when they went to a consultation (for which they submitted funds initially) they were informed there was no potential buyers.

Instead, they were encouraged - in fact pressured - to spend more money acquiring "the firm's incentive scheme", associated with the organization's holding firm, the parent organization.

The nature of these rewards was rather ambiguous. They appeared to be a type of exchange medium, offering reduced-price holidays and services and consumer discounts.

And they were seemingly "exchangeable with other owners, at a future date.

Investing money at the time would lead to an future return that would cover SMT's fees and result in the property owner in profit, liberated eventually from their troublesome contract.

An unrealistic promise? Certainly, that proved correct.

A 'Bait-and-Switch Scam'

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

The technique is termed a "misleading sales."

An operator - here SMT - "lures the consumer by promoting a defined offering but then to state it cannot be provided, steering the customer towards a different, lower-quality option.

Such practices are unlawful. Equipped with all the testimony we had collected, we made the case to discreetly video one of the company's meetings.

This takes time, effort, and clear arguments for why this is the exclusive approach to obtain the information required to confirm deceptive practices.

With approval secured, our compact group set up a meeting with one of the company's representatives in the location.

Posing as a member of the public aiming to help his mother out of her timeshare contract|holiday ownership agreement