Darnell Disroe, 38 of Boynton Beach, Florida was sentenced in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to 121 months in prison, five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $1.1 million for his role in a timeshare resale telemarketing scam that collected money from 615 timeshare owners across the country. Others involved in the timeshare scam were Michael Starace, 42, of Lantana, Florida who was sentenced in January to 18 months in prison on one count of mail fraud and ordered to pay $23,723 restitution. Michael Lentine, 32 also from Boynton Beach, Florida was sentenced in January as well to 51 months in prison for one count of conspiracy and two counts of mail fraud and ordered to pay restitution of $249,432. The sentence for Darnell Disroe cam Monday by Stephen R. Wigginton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.
Real Timeshare Marketing Scam
The three men operated a company called Real Timeshare Marketing which was named in a multi-count federal indictment returned July 21, 2010, by a federal grand jury in East St. Louis, charging them with conspiracy and mail fraud. The timeshare scam had originated in South Florida, but targeted timeshare owners across the country. Real Timeshare Marketing would call these timeshare owners with the promise that a buyer had been found for their property. Charging fees of up to thousands of dollars for closing costs, marketing fees and related expenses. Timeshare resale victims were from 46 states and Canada, all who fell for this scam and handed over their money in hopes of selling their timeshare property.
Timeshare Resale Scams
This should be a perfect example as to how some of these timeshare resale companies operate. When you are promised a buyer that is waiting (most cases their never is one) or charged a large upfront fee then avoid that company like the plague. If the timeshare resale company truly had a buyer waiting, they would take their fee out AFTER the sale of your timeshare has been made.
Selling My Timeshare is about educating the public about how timeshare resales work and what timeshare resale scams to avoid. If you have been scammed by a timeshare resale company, please let us know or search for them and leave your story.
