10 Indicted for Timeshare Mortgage Fraud Scam

Allison Tussey —  January 25, 2013 — 3 Comments

10 individuals have been indicted on 44-counts for their alleged roles in a mail and wire fraud conspiracy involving timeshare mortgages.

The six indicted defendants from New Jersey include: Adam Lacerda, 28, and his wife, Ashley R. Lacerda, 32, Egg Harbor Township; Ian Resnick, 37, Absecon; Steven Cox, 48, Ventnor City; Francis Santore, 52, Northfield; and Joseph Diventi, 32, Somers Point.

Also indicted are Alfred Giordano, 32, Hurry County, South Carolina; Brian Corley, 27, Little River, South Carolina; Joseph Saxon, 38, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; and Genevieve Manzoni, 46, Lake Worth, Florida. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on January 23, 2013.

Ian Resnick, Joseph Saxon, and Genevieve Manzoni previously were charged by criminal complaint. Adam Lacerda, Ashley R. Lacerda, Steven Cox, Alfred Giordano, Francis Santore, Brian Corley, and Joseph Diventi previously were indicted on the same charges by a federal grand jury sitting in Trenton on May 3, 2012.

The defendants are expected to be arraigned before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden, New Jersey, federal court in the coming weeks.

According to the superseding indictment and the Complaints previously filed:

In July 2010, law enforcement officers commenced an investigation into The Vacation Ownership Group, a/k/a VO Group LLC. The investigation revealed that beginning at least from March 2009 and continuing to September 1, 2011, the defendants, through the VO Group, participated in a fraudulent scheme in which representatives of the VO Group called owners of timeshare vacation properties purchased from Flagship Resort Development, Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc., and other timeshare developers and convinced the owners to submit money to the VO Group, purportedly to pay off their “mortgages” on their timeshares. The VO Group claimed that the timeshare owner could pay off the mortgage balance at a substantially reduced amount—often by as much as 50 percent of the amount of the owner’s original mortgage—by mailing payment to the VO Group at a P.O. Box in Pleasantville, New Jersey. The VO Group representatives also persuaded timeshare owners to send the VO Group money purportedly to have timeshares cancelled or sold. Rather than paying off the timeshare owner’s mortgage, cancelling the owner’s timeshare, or selling the timeshare, the conspirators kept the timeshare owner’s money for their personal use.

The investigation also revealed that in an attempt to cover up the scheme, the conspirators in most cases engaged in a “bait and switch” tactic by purchasing an additional timeshare in the victim’s name without the victim’s knowledge. The victim purportedly had assented to the purchase based on documents the VO Group previously e-mailed to the victim for signature even though the victim had been led to believe that the victim was simply paying off the victim’s original timeshare mortgage.

According to the complaint, during the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers interviewed approximately 225 victims of the conspirators’ scheme identified to date. Many of the victims are elderly, causing them to be more vulnerable to the scheme. The indictment states that law enforcement has determined that the conspirators defrauded the victims of more than $3 million.

The mail and wire fraud conspiracy charge—with which all defendants named in the superseding indictment are charged—is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each additional, substantive charge of mail fraud or wire fraud carries an additional, maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit money laundering charge subjects defendants Adam and Ashley Lacerda to an additional, maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Defendants Adam and Ashley Lacerda also face an additional, maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison for each substantive money laundering count in which they are charged.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced the indictment.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents from the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark; and special agents from the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Panella, New York Region, for the investigation leading to today’s indictment. He also thanked the New Jersey Department of Labor, Benefit Payment Control Unit, for its assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alyson M. Oswald and R. David Walk, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

The charges and allegations contained in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Anyone who believes they are a victim of the fraud should contact the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency at 609-677-6400.

Allison Tussey

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3 responses to 10 Indicted for Timeshare Mortgage Fraud Scam

  1. Timeshare fraud has been around since the timeshare idea was created, but they increase during poor economy. When times are difficult, timeshare owners are stuck with properties they can´t travel to or even afford. Desperate to recoup some money to pay for bills, they can easily become victims to scams artists pretending to be their timeshare salvation who will take upfront fees -as much as five number figures in some cases- but fail to fulfill their promise.

  2. If you are not interested in purchasing a timeshare to use, do not attend a timeshare presentation! The free gifts are not worth wasting a day of your vacation, and putting your hard earned money at risk of being scammed by the timeshare salespeople.

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