The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is today appealing for information from the public in relation to a complex timeshare services scheme it believes was operated by an organised crime network.
This new SFO investigation is being announced after it intercepted suspected ongoing criminal activity.
In August, the SFO arrested a key suspect at Manchester Airport and searched his home address, going on to conduct four arrests of suspected accomplices and conduct three raids of properties across England the following month. The SFO was assisted by the National Crime Agency, Greater Manchester Police and Hertfordshire Constabulary in these operations.
It is suspected the companies cold called members of the public offering exit and/or compensation from timeshare or holiday clubs for an upfront fee between January 2018 and September 2024. No services are understood to have ever been provided in most cases.
People who purchased these services are then believed to have been contacted again and pressured into paying another upfront fee to recover their money on the basis that it was fraudulent.
The SFO is asking for anyone contacted by these companies to share information via a questionnaire on its website.
The companies are: AML Executive Contracts Ltd, ASA Partnership Ltd, DW Contract Consultancy Ltd, DW Law Consultancy Ltd, ERS Europe Ltd, Harwood Advisory Group Ltd, Huntland Rock Associates Ltd (Hunter Rock Associates), Meta UK Group Ltd, Milton Chadwick Consultants Ltd, The Nobel Group of Companies (including but not limited to Nobel Acquisitions and Investment Group Ltd and Nobel Business Services Ltd), Park Square Associates Ltd, Rockland Associates Ltd, Silverstream Management Group Ltd, Sonata Trading Ltd, Termination Services Ltd, The Biz Doc UK Ltd aka Business Doctor, Timeshare Legals Ltd, TSL Europe Ltd and Venture Compliance Ltd.
Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said:
The SFO does not wait for victims to be defrauded before using our specialist skills to intervene.
In September we put a stop to a suspected criminal network’s efforts to defraud and today we are appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been affected to come forward, helping us push forward with a robust investigation.
