Legal news

A Los Angeles area man and his son were sentenced to 12 years hard-time each this week for their involvement in a telemarketing scam.

Richard Cohen, of Sherman Oaks pleaded guilty to over 20 felony counts of fraud. He and his son formed numerous LLC’s with names such as Rig Leasing Inc. and Mintech International, then called people around the country claiming the companies were valuable and had stock for sale at a discount. But the companies had no value and provided no services, and their stock certificates were worthless. Cohen and his son did this for ten years, and bilked investors of around forty million dollars.

Investigation into the pair and their workers determined the companies and their stock to be fraudulent, and most of the money taken from victims was used to fund the Cohen’s lavish lifestyles, which included a mansion in Calabasas and luxury cars. One of their co-conspirators, a Josh Hoffman of Malibu, was sentenced to five years in prison. Mr. Hoffman told “investors” they were purchasing advertisements in reputable magazines.

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A class-action suit was filed in San Francisco last Thursday claiming Shell Vacations charged thousands of dollars for “points” sold on Ebay for $1.
Shell Vacations Club, which has resorts all over the United States and Canada, was charged with false advertising and scamming consumers.They claimed timeshares were purchased at a “fixed cost,” there were “thousands of dollars in hidden fees” and “price increases.”

Plaintiffs purchased 2,500 points they thought they could use towards vacations all over the United States at the many SVC resorts, at a price of $14,224. They then found Ebay links to 9,700 points for $1.

Upon further internet research, a complaint from a consumer not familiar with the case read: “In the next 10 years we will be paying $50,000 to go on vacation 10 times, and that only covers the condo, not airfare, etc,” one man wrote on an online complaint forum, according to the complaint. “How is that a great investment?” Another complaint cited “”one unpleasant surprise after another” and “many lies and conveniently concealed information.”

The plaintiffs seek damages for breach of contract, breach of faith, fraud, false promises deceptive business practices and negligent misrepresentation.

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Mitch Morrissey, Denver’s District Attorney, is cracking down on timeshare resale scam artists. He put an ad on his Facebook page and he wants everyone to know that scammers are taking advantage of good people. Stamping out timeshare resale con-artists is a top priority for his office.

“Victims, particularly those eager to sell their interests in timeshare properties, are being contacted by people claiming to be timeshare buyers who are making sizable offers that may or may not require an upfront fee,” Morrissey said.

“Often, the buyer claims to have a ‘buyer waiting.’ In the interest of making the deal as simple and painless as possible, the buyer initiates all ‘necessary’ documents, and emails them to the seller to sign and send back,” Morrissey added.

“Sellers are told they will be reimbursed for these fees at the time of closing, only to find that the buyer and escrow account company have vanished before they have finalized the deal,” Morrissey said.

The DA wants citizens to know you should only use licensed real estate agents when dealing with any property ownership issues, especially timeshares. Any financial deals made should be put into writing, something the scam artists aren’t able to offer. And you should never agree to purchase anything over the phone if you’ve never dealt with the company in the past.

If you’d like to file a complaint with the FTC over a possible timeshare scam you know of, go to their website.

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