Article
Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel
By Henry
Pierson Curtis
Published June 30, 2015
A timeshare company in downtown Kissimmee stole $180,000
from at least 98 victims trying to sell their shares in vacation homes,
according to police..
Joseph A. Taylor III ran World Mark Wholesale & Trade LLC on East Monument
Avenue as one of 12 front companies targeting timeshare owners in the U.S.
and Canada, police records show.
Taylor, Garey Williams and Berthony Vernet now face arrest on fraud and
grand theft charges with bail set at $1 million each, records show.
"The suspects would scour Internet sites designed to help sell timeshare
properties," police said in a statement released Thursday. "They would
contact the victims and convince them they had a buyer for their property
... and request money be wired up front to cover closing costs."
Whenever owners wired money, the suspects contacted them seeking more money
claiming additional costs, records show.
On Dec. 18, one of the victims sent $3,000 and was told four days later she
needed to send $1,764 to cover taxes for profits on the sale. But a manager
at her Chase Bank branch warned her Whole Mark's account had been flagged
for fraud and she decided not to send more money, records show.
Whole Marks' staff called her several times asking when the money would
arrive until she stopped taking their calls.
The scam is so common in Florida the state Legislature passed the Time share
Resale Accountability Act in 2012 prohibiting companies from taking advance
fees.
To expedite processing owners' complaints, the state Division of Florida
Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes provides an online form.
On Thursday, arrest warrants were issued for Taylor, 32, Williams, 35, both
of Orlando, and Vernet, 19, of Kissimmee. Anyone with information about them
is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-8477.
|