May 30, 2021
A Canadian and an American veteran share their wire transfer fraud timeshare experience
The level of sophistication employed by organized crime, promising timeshare owners they have a waiting buyer, is astonishing. Canadians Earl and Faith lost 52,000USD and an additional. 52,000USD to Your New Tennessee and other entities associated with the timeshare resale scams. The scam involved Club Sunset in Mexico. A disabled American Army Vietnam veteran was scammed after posting an ad with a timeshare listing service by a crimeshare ring that included someone impersonating a federal agent.
The government of Canada has issued a travel advisory for Canadians to be aware of high pressure sales tactics used to sell timeshares in Mexico.
An FBI agent said I was part of a 2019 “Your New Tennessee” $3.5 million real estate and timeshare resale scam featured on Nashville Channel 5 News. https://www.newschannel5.com/news/bbb-warns-of-mexican-timeshare-scams
TIMESHARE TALKS interview with Canadians Earl, Faith, and service dog, Raven
Earl’s Timeshare Experience
For almost 19 years, I served as a Canadian Armed Forces Military Police Officer. In 2014. I was medically released due to service-related injuries, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many life situations create flashbacks by sound, sight or smell. I also suffer from hearing loss. My wife Faith suffers from an environmental illnesses that causes extreme pain. She has also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.
Our experience with Club Sunset at Tres Rios has negatively impacted my PTSD. Whenever I attempt to chronicle our experience, I become overwhelmed with anxiety and anger, followed by days of depression, nausea, loss of sleep and nightmares. The letter I first wrote to Irene Parker at TARDA was one of the most physiologically and psychologically disturbing letters I have had to compile in my life.
We were tricked into purchasing two timeshare weeks from Club Sunset for 52,000 USD. When we attempted to sell the weeks in November of 2019, we became victims of a 72,000CAN ($52,000USD) timeshare resell scam. They used letterhead indicating the federal government was involved in the transaction.
Our Club Sunset – Tres Rios history
2014 We arrived at Tres Rios via friends through a “Share” program. We met with Jonathan, a representative of the Sunset group. According to Jonathon, “you are purchasing a piece of Paradise, you’ll love it and unless you want to upgrade, you will never be approached to buy anything additional.” We purchased a week timeshare through Club Sunset La Herencia for $19,000. While signing documents, their lawyer drew our attention to the acronyms ARDA and CARDA (CVOA). He went on to say how both the company and the consumer are protected by these two entities and how disputes from the consumer should be directed to the respective organizations. Neither of these entities mediates disputes.
2015 We returned to Tres Rios. The Concierge informed us that we needed to meet with an individual named Jordan because there was a problem with our contract. The news made us physically sick. Jordan said he was the nephew of the Resort Manager, Dallas, and that Dallas had been notified by the Tres Rios’ head office that they were not happy with our contract. They demanded that Dallas fix the problem. They could not understand how in 2014 we were able to purchase a Phase 1 development-priced contract with “Certificate of Perpetuity with Flex-week” and that those two items would be removed unless we purchased into La Herencia Group, known as the “Real Estate Share Holders Group.” My wife was in tears. I began to have an anxiety attack. Jordan explained, “Many people purchase at this level as an investment for retirement. When they no longer wish to travel, they sell it.” He further explained, There will no longer be the right of first refusal on reselling” and added that the company had purchased back many contracts, mentioning that anyone would be happy to have a large percentage-off value. They showed us a projected number on a work sheet.
2016 We met with CHAD and paid another large sum of monies to upgrade to La HERENCIA II that came with more corporate weeks than we could ever use. It was pitched as a newly renovated portion of the building. We spent a total of 52,000USD on the first purchase and the two upgrades.
2018 We returned to Tres Rios following life-saving surgery I had in 2017. We arranged a meeting with sales members to discuss selling our timeshare back. One stated, “I’ve only been at Tres Rios for a short time Sir, but I’ve never heard of a resort buying any timeshare back.”
PTSD and timeshare
We were proudly shown “Crystal Doors” touted as a new security feature. Due to my policing/military/security specialist background, I always conduct room sweeps upon entry. With PTSD hyper-vigilance, I look for exits and safe areas, and check security on doors and windows. I noted a patio door had a broken lock. Several people were walking back and forth, some not wearing resort bracelets. I opened the lock with my index and middle fingers on the same hand with a scissor like movement (about ½ lb. of vice). Being situated on the ground floor allowed easy access. A bit further into the rooms check I experienced a physiological trigger and had to leave. When I was able to re-enter, my body’s reaction started again. I could smell mold. Upon further inspection, opening the shower door I found Stachybotrys chartarum or BLACK MOLD! We called the front desk. An employee sprayed bleach onto the ceiling without protective eye wear, mask, or gloves. Signs indicated a larger mold problem had not been repaired.
After filing formal complaints, 13 months later, they offered to compensate us with a one week, all-inclusive vacation with a promise of no mold.
We had been told by Sunset representative Cesar that Sunset does not rely on “HE SAID SHE SAID” information. Another representative informed us that the head office had acted upon several members’ complaints similar to ours. Dallas (from Canada) had been terminated along with those affiliated with him hoping to mitigate legal ramifications.
The Mexico Consumer Protection agency Profeco went to court for us. Club Sunset’s responded that they would rescind but not refund.
Promotoro Sunset Beach Club has a BBB rating of F
The 52,000USD Resale Scam.
We next became victims of Your New Tennessee, brokering with Title 2 Investments. After placing an ad with Sell My Timeshare Now, Brian Carter, a representative from Your New Tennessee called us and said they had a buyer for La Herencia and La Herencia II. They said the offer was from a company in Saudi Arabia. Ridgeland Properties were also involved. We were advised to pay and the buyer will reimburse. We were showed funds held in escrow. The bank confirmed the amount in escrow. Two days later there was no account. Since being taken for the majority of our retirement savings we have been targeted by three additional companies:
1. Club Alliance supposedly out of Manhattan NY
2. Boston North End Reality (the real owner was not aware his domain was stolen).
3. Real Estates LLC.
Club Sunset wants us to return to “give us another try” to keep our vacation dreams alive. I will never go to Mexico again.
An American veteran scammed
A veteran and his wife had tried for years to get their resort to take a week back. Eventually, they did, maybe feeling bad about the money lost to the scammers. The listing service refunded the $1,700. Their studio timeshare that was likely worth only $1 had been listed for $7,999.
I put the veteran family in touch with a Florida resale broker to determine what an honest timeshare reseller would charge. The broker said that if they listed with him, he would list the timeshare for $1500, but if the unit sold they would likely only break even after commission. A second Florida broker responded, “What’s he smoking! I would not even want to list this timeshare. If I did, I would suggest a listing price of $1.”
The Setup
The veteran received a call about a month after listing their timeshare. The caller claimed to be a paralegal with a generic sounding title company announcing they had a buyer offering $15,000. The first Red Flag was the company has a generic sounding name. The “paralegal” informed the veteran that the title company had three Dominican Republic buyers. The second Red Flag was a foreign buyer.
The “paralegal” said that an attorney would call and go over the transaction details. He informed them that they would need to pay $987.52 for a Documentary Tax Stamp. The third Red Flag was being asked to wire money. The following week the “attorney” called. He knew they had been trying to sell their timeshare, and even knew they had paid $550 to list the timeshare with a company that went out of business. This the family had disclosed to the ad listing company. The supposed attorney said the title company had bought all the listings from the company that went out of business. We wondered if the ad listing company worked in cooperation with these criminals.
Mr. Attorney told the family the name of three Dominican Republic buyers. He knew they had not used Western Union before so he said to put his phone number on the wire so that if there was a problem Western Union could call him. He looked up a Walgreen’s near their home to help them find the nearest Western Union. He knew their address. They wired the money for the Documentary Tax Stamp in Dominican Republic currency. The day after the money was wired they got a call from someone who said he was a federal agent. He said the attorney’s phone number had been flagged for possible fraud because it was an incorrect business number. He informed them that they would be reimbursed via a money order from Western Union in 3-5 days. They were told they would have to resubmit the payment. There was a back and forth discussion between the attorney and the person impersonating a federal agent. The family said they had no additional money. Mr. Federal Agent became involved. Mr. Attorney kept saying the family would be reimbursed. Mr. Federal Agent called repeatedly acting rude, nasty, and said he would come to the house to arrest them because they had defrauded Western Union. He said they owed taxes and that Mr. Attorney could not talk to them anymore because of an investigation. The family was told that nce the buyer had been reimbursed for the Documentary Tax Stamp, the family would receive a package. When nothing arrived, the family was unable to contact Mr. Attorney. They called Mr. Federal Agent and explained the situation. Not knowing he was part of the con, they thought he could help. Mr. Federal Agent allowed Mr. Attorney to continue the paperwork. They paid an additional $962.75 for the deed and title transfer. Next, they received a call from someone claiming to be a resort representative. The caller said the reason he was calling was because senior citizens don’t remember things. He wanted to let them know the sale had been approved, but they still owed an additional $891.97, which included $563 for title and the rest was for a prorated maintenance fee penalty for breaking a 25 year contract. They said they were being charged a $200 a day penalty because they did not conclude the transaction in time.
The family called the real resort and was informed they didn’t owe taxes and that they would not have called from a 321 number. When they informed Mr. Federal Agent, he said they were out of line for having contacted the resort.
The impeccable looking documents included a Purchase and Sale Agreement, and emails from a Hong Kong Bank showing Proof of Funds.
The Unfortunate but Common Outcome
Irene Parker with TARDA contacted the Secret Service office. They helped stop the phone calls from the federal agent imposter threatening to come to their house to arrest them, but the Secret Service agent told the family that they will never get their $4,000 back and should be grateful they only lost $4,000.
Earl and Faith’s Exit Con Chronology
Sept. 6, 2018 Email from Bryan Carter from Your New Tennessee with Appraisal resale documents
Sept. 11, 2018 Initial phone call from Bryan Carter, Your New Tennessee, sales offers
Sept. 12, 2018 Counter offer sent to sales department at Your New Tennessee
Sept.14, 2018 Sent Bryan Carter our perpetuity certificate and contract
Sept. 25, 2018 Email from Scott Mullan, Title Two Investments, a Citibanmex opening account form
Sept. 26, 2018 Email received from the legal department at Your NewTennessee, our sales contracts
Sept. 25, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments certificate of insurance, RFC Insurance/permit and wire instructions to pay for RFC
Sept. 28, 2018 Email received from Tittle Two Investments escrow agreement, certificate of insurance, RFC permit and wire instructions to pay for RFC
Oct. 4, 2018 Wired $5136.00 to Jonas Hernandez Candelero for RFC permit
Oct 9, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments with paid receipt for RFC permit
Oct. 10, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments paid Federal Tax from SAT supposedly paid by buyer (these documents were for Nicole Lavista Garcia and Daniel Garcia) were in our name
Oct. 16, 2018 Email from Title Two Investments invoice from SAT for state tax wire transfer instructions
Oct. 19, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments Citibanmex statement of account
Oct. 23, 2018 Sent 2nd wire transfer for SAT state taxes 22,055.20 to Jonas Hernandez Candelero
Oct. 24, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments SAT paid receipt for State taxes
Oct. 24, 2018 Email received Title Two Investments SAT Legal and recording invoice wire instructions
Oct. 25, 2018 Sent 3rd wire transfer for legal and recording fees 3966.00 to Rosana Roman Cruz
Oct. 25, 2018 Received from Title Two Investments incoming wire transfer and disbursement forms
Oct. 26, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments stating wire transfer was in process
Oct. 26, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments paid receipt for legal and recording fees
Oct. 29, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments letter from Aduana re customs because registered certificate did not match funds in account due to legal and recording fees being reimbursed by the buyer requesting 23,860 be sent for new certificate
Oct. 31, 2018 Received 2nd email from Title Two Investments with letter from Aduana requesting customs payment
Nov. 1, 2018 Email from Title Two Investments updated statement of account with Citibanamex
Nov. 1, 2018 Received from Bryan Carter a Promissory note stating there would be no more fees, customs or taxes
Nov. 5, 2018 Sent 4th wire transfer for customs 23,860.00 to Rosana Roman Cruz
Nov. 7, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments paid receipt for customs
Nov. 8, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments update disbursement form
Nov. 8, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments letter from Citibanamex stating they were holding funds until Collateral in the amount of 72, 252.28 is paid (due to suspicious activity)
Nov. 16, 2018 Email received from the legal department at Your New Tennessee an Addendum, which they requested we sign and return
Nov. 19, 2018 Email received from Title Two Investments a Statement of Account for Citibanamex
Nov. 29, 2018 Email received from Richard Walker (head lawyer) Your New Tennessee, a Financial assistance form, as they wanted to help us with the collateral payment, asked that we fill it out and send back, the first attempt to send this to us was sent to a Mr. March in error.
Related article:
AARP staff writer Doug Shadel’s book, Outsmarting the Scam Artist, explains why no one is “smart” enough to outsmart a con artist.