This article was first published on Inside Timeshare on Tuesday 27 February, once again Irene Parker highlights the sales tactics by one sales agent, which are resulting in complaints from the elderly and in many cases military veterens. For some of these victims the consequences could be devastating.
THE FBI FOCUSES ON SCAMS TARGETING THE ELDERLY
WHY TIMESHARE BUYERS NEED TO REPORT ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD
Reported 22/2/18
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/elder-fraud-charges-announced
All of the schemes have one goal: to trick and deceive senior citizens into turning over their hard-earned savings.
A coordinated law enforcement action aimed at those who prey on senior citizens has resulted in charges against more than 250 subjects who collectively victimized more than one million mostly elderly Americans.
“The Justice Department and its partners are taking unprecedented, coordinated action to protect elderly Americans from financial threats, both foreign and domestic,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Today’s actions send a clear message. We will hold perpetrators of elder fraud schemes accountable wherever they are.”
Using a variety of scams, criminals charged in the nationwide sweep caused losses of more than $600 million. The cases, which spanned the globe and claimed victims in every U.S. state, include criminal, civil, and forfeiture actions and were coordinated through local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and international partners.
Elder fraud “is a serious and growing threat,” said David Bowdich, acting deputy director of the FBI, who attended a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., with other federal law enforcement partners to announce the results of the nationwide sweep and to encourage victims to come forward.
Last year, the FBI opened more than 200 financial crime cases that involved elderly victims, Bowdich said. The investigations covered a range of crimes, from investment frauds to reverse mortgage scams. Often, the cases involved “outright theft by people the victim should have been able to trust, to include their attorneys, financial advisers, and, even more egregious, their guardians and caregivers.”
Ten Testimonies from Rick Casper Customers
#10 A surprise $170,000 1099c this tax season
Elder Abuse Part II
Elder Abuse Part I by Gay Hart-Brewer
http://insidetimeshare.com/fridays-letter-america-38/
Gay’s Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99xK55mTZRo&feature=youtu.be
Consumer Protection Week March 4 – 10
Rick Casper said there was a meeting and the new people that bought Diamond (Apollo Global Management) said since there were so many members wanting to sell back points, Diamond was now allowing this, but in order for us to sell our points back to DRI we would need to buy more points.
The new payment is $2,276.05 and almost equals our net income
The old payment on the Hawaii points was $413.
Retired Army, age 69, taught 21 years biological, nuclear and chemical defense
Roy Simmons, another veteran speaks out about timeshare sales
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_nca6lMA4U&feature=youtu.be
Rick Casper complaints reported to Timeshare Advocacy Group™
By Irene Parker
February 27, 2018
Inside Timeshare has received 315 Diamond Resorts complaints since we began counting late 2016. Ten are Rick Casper complaints. Inside Timeshare reached out to Diamond Resorts for comment but they did not respond. ARDA has been copied on all serious allegations reminding them of their Code of Ethics. ARDA has never responded. Diamond members donate $1 million a year in “voluntary” “opt out” donations on maintenance fee invoices to ARDA ROC. When questioned, not one member could tell me what ARDA ROC even stands for.
The FBI has advised us, timeshare buyers who feel they were a victim of bait and switch of a serious nature (like the members reports in today’s article allege), to file a complaint at IC3.gov and to file a complaint orally by contacting their local FBI field office (prompt #4, then prompt #3 white-collar crimes)
Fraud for profit: Those who commit this type of mortgage fraud are often industry insiders using their specialized knowledge or authority to commit or facilitate the fraud. Current investigations and widespread reporting indicate a high percentage of mortgage fraud involves collusion by industry insiders, such as bank officers, appraisers, mortgage brokers, attorneys, loan originators, and other professionals engaged in the industry. Fraud for profit aims not to secure housing, but rather to misuse the mortgage lending process to steal cash and equity from lenders or homeowners. The FBI prioritizes fraud for profit cases.
Rick Casper
We begin with number ten, the most recent Rick Casper complaint, because this complaint is particularly timely as April 15 looms, the deadline to pay income taxes in the US. When a loan is forgiven it is reported as “forgiven debt”, a form of income, so Mr. Wolfer’s $170,000 1099c is worrisome, to put it mildly.
A lawyer I spoke with, who asked not to be identified, said you can negotiate with the timeshare company as part of the settlement, not to issue a 1099c. In this case Mr. Wolfer worked through one of those “get you out of your timeshare” companies, but I can find very little about the firm he worked with and their website was not accessible. Foreclosure might have been the better choice. I’m not an accountant, but according to Creditcards.com, there are six exceptions to paying income taxes on forgiven income. Timeshare debt is not one of them.
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/1099-c-tax-form-questions-answers-1282.php
Timeshare Master Closers typically earn $1 to $2 million per year in income. As a former stockbroker, I am not against earning and gathering great wealth, but not in a fashion described by those listed below. I will believe a veteran or an active member of the military or law enforcement over a timeshare sales agent any day. We have referred 31 active duty military, served, or retired military and members of law enforcement to Whistleblowers of America, an organization dedicated to seeking justice for military and government workers. http://insidetimeshare.com/tag/whistleblowers-of-america/
Ten Rick Casper complaints
#45 (10) Danny Wolfer, age 70, 100% disabled, Vietnam veteran
(2/23/18 complaint) The first #, #45, is the order Rick Casper appears in 45 Polo Towers/Cancun Resorts Las Vegas complaints directed against several agents. The second number is 1 – 10 Rick Casper Complaints.
In 2016 we went to Vegas and stayed at Cancun resort. We met with Rick Casper. We were already platinum members at 50,000 points but Mr. Casper said if we could do this upgrade it was possible to use our points to pay the maintenance fees, but maintenance fees increased after the upgrade from $5000 to $16,000. I had been in the hospital with congestive heart failure so not thinking clearly and we were kept for five hours. When we got home we realized what happened. Rick Casper said it would cost $198,000, $2500 a month in payments for the next 10 years but after ten years we would have no maintenance fees and no loan payment. Rick Casper said, “Then the little people will be paying for your vacation.” He said it would take a year to a year and a half to set up but he would personally handle it.
I ended up paying a company $1500 in Branson MO that helps get people out of time shares, which they did; but now DRI has issued me a 1099c which has to be claimed as income. It’s for around $170,000. I’m 71 years old. I feel like they (Rick Casper and the “get you out of your timeshare company”) took advantage of me. I would have been better off foreclosing.
#1 (1) Age 68 Coast Guard veteran Platinum upsell by Rick Casper: We had purchased eight DRI contracts, disputing only the last upsell because Rick Casper told us he would sell points for us if we had to, but we had to purchase these last additional points. We asked if we could combine the nine contracts for easier accounting. Rick Casper advised us not to combine contracts as it would be easier for him to sell in small lots like, for example, when people want to upgrade from gold to platinum. Gold is 30,000 points and Platinum is 50,000 points. We purchased 20,000 points July 2016 for $55,200. When we attempted to contact Rick Casper the email went to DRI VP Dan Percy who said Rick Casper is not receiving emails. (Almost resolved so not identified) http://insidetimeshare.com/wednesday-article-america/
#8 (2) A stage 4 cancer victim was told to buy more points by Rick Casper as they would be able to sell the points to help pay for medical bills and Rick Casper told us he would be able to help sell them. (Resolved after numerous rebuttals)
#13 Age 60 (3) $117,000 loan – December 29, 2016 – Rick Casper said DRI never allowed you to sell points. This will allow you to sell points. He knows real estate people to get $5 on resale for DRI points. New members are paying $9 so if you buy at $4 it is easy to sell. He had contacts he could set us up with. We were given Rick’s personal email at the sales presentation. Rick Casper said only Legacy owners can sell points. When we attempted to contact Rick Casper he said he could no longer use his personal email and that VP Dan Percy would handle us from now on. (Resolved)
#14 Age 69 Gulf War veteran disabled (4) $142,000 Loan – Couple did not know until they returned home that Rick Casper January 22, 2017 had sold them $142,000 worth of DRI points and had charged $17,000 to a Barclaycard for the down payment. (Resolved) http://insidetimeshare.com/another-nightmare-timeshare-street/
#17 Age 61 (5) my complaints are against Rick Casper. I told Mr. Casper April 2016 I was not able to use all the points I had because I lost my best friend I used to travel with and no longer desired to travel like I did before. I had 50,000 Diamond points prior to meeting with Mr. Casper. I explained I owned more points than I can use. He told me the 50,000 points I currently owned were worthless but if I bought an additional 25,000 points I would be able to sell any of my points for $2 to $4 per point. He called this an exit strategy. Mr. Casper said on at least four occasions I was eligible for a “Pool Party” upgrade that would provide an exit strategy. He said the program was about to expire so I needed to write a sentence that said I wanted to do this and he would get the purchase approved. I never received a copy of the sentence. The purpose of the purchase, according to Mr. Casper, was to make my existing points more valuable. Mr. Casper went on to explain that this exit strategy would allow me to monitor and sell points. He mentioned that he is a family man and does not want to pass his points and maintenance fees on to his kids. He repeated several times “this is your exit strategy”. I was referred to VP Dan Percy who said he would get back to me. (Resolved)
#20 Age 66 (6) $75,000 July 2016
Sales agent Rick Casper
Mr. Casper said on at least four occasions I was eligible for a “Pool Party” upgrade that would provide an exit strategy. He said the program was about to expire so I needed to write a sentence that said I wanted to do this and he would get the purchase approved. I never received a copy of the sentence. The purpose of the purchase, according to Mr. Casper, was to make my existing points more valuable. Mr. Casper went on to explain that this exit strategy would allow me to monitor and sell the points. He mentioned that he is a family man and does not want to pass his points and maintenance fees on to his kids. (Resolved)
#21 Samuel Melendez Age 69 (7) October 2016
Army veteran, 21 years taught biological, chemical and nuclear defense
http://insidetimeshare.com/nightmares-timeshare-street/
I am asking for our loan to be cancelled for our last purchase of 107,500 points from Rick Casper at Polo Towers. We previously purchased 50,000 Hawaii points in November 2016 and had no complaints with Diamond. Having bought point three times we did not expect a Diamond sales agent would outright lie.
In Las Vegas at Polo Towers we met with Rick Casper and told him we were afraid of passing our points on to our children. Rick Casper said there was a meeting and the new people that bought Diamond (Apollo Global Management ) said since there were so many members wanting to sell back points, Diamond was now allowing this, but in order for us to sell our points back to DRI we would need to buy more points. He said we would have to pay off the loan before Diamond would buy our points back. He said he had to transfer our Hawaii points to the US Collection points.
Mr. Casper said to put down that our income was $120,000 each on the loan application. I said that was not true. Rick Casper said to put it down anyway. I asked Mr. Casper if I would need to pay the maintenance fees. He said we would not have to worry about that. After we got home we received a bill for $17,500 for maintenance fees. He did not explain that the $15,000 would be placed on the Barclaycard which was put on Delores (age 81) card.
November 2015 50,000 points purchased for $121,650 in Hawaii
10/21/2016 $163,525 for 107,500 points purchased from Rick Casper
Down Payment $15,000 Amount financed $151,078.93
Equity from 65,000 points transferred from US $128,196
Loan Balance: $143,931.27 as of October 2017
The new payment is $2,276.05 and almost equals our net income
The old payment on the Hawaii points was $413
#22 age 56 (8) $132,000 August 2017
Sales agent Rick Casper
“The main benefit that he presented was the ability to convert points directly into cash at $0.30 per point. If at any time during the year we had leftover points we could be reimbursed for those points in cash. All we had to do was contact Dan Percy and he would process the transaction and put the money on our reloadable Visa card.” I continued to ask questions about each benefit so that I would be certain. I worded questions differently to see if I would get the same answer. I threw out this scenario; “If at the end of the year I have 30,000 points still sitting in my account, you’re telling me that I can get reimbursed cash for these points at $0.30 per point.” His response; “Absolutely – You contact Dan Percy and he will load $9,000 onto the Visa card.” We purchased 40,000 points to get us to the level of “Super Platinum”. (Resolved)
#44 (9) Referred by one of the 1 – 10 above supposed to call us soon.
We seek to provide Diamond Resort members a way to proactively address membership concerns; to advocate for timeshare reform; to obtain greater disclosure from the company; to advocate for a viable secondary market; and to educate prospective buyers.
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Timeshare Advocacy Group™ – Members Helping Members tired of “Kind Regards”
