Last summer, we covered a large scale scam where Daniel “Wolf” Boyer paid dozens of co-conspirators to sell fraudulent timeshare resale services to vulnerable owners. While a majority have already pleaded guilty, the investigation presumes. Paul Michael Marciniak is the second primary co-conspirator to receive his sentence. After the group of greedy entrepreneurs he joined fleeced more than a thousand fractional owners for over $3.3 million, you can’t blame consumer protection agencies for doing their due diligence to ensure justice is served. The well-known Florida timeshare resale con is rounding out to be quite the ploy.
How Did the Con Men Pull it Off?
Boyer, Marciniak and their team of con artists solicited timeshare owners with offers to sell their timeshare and remove the financial burden for nearly 2 years. The telemarketing scheme used personal data illegally to contact their victims and aggressively pressured them to quickly hand over thousands of dollars before the interested buyers found another property.
The problem was, there was never a potential buyer – or any opportunity to sell for that matter. This has come to be known as “the buyer’s pitch.” Everything about the sale funneled towards a limited opportunity that never developed. While this allowed them to bamboozle a lot of people, it didn’t take long for consumers to catch on.
What Eventually Gave the Con Away?
When assessing timeshare exit companies, it’s always best to initially examine public business information. With scams, you’ll often find noticeable inconsistencies, mirages and even duplicate information. That’s right, some people actually use the names of legitimate businesses to operate the fraud. Some end up using multiple aliases as a way to continue defrauding consumers. While a Florida timeshare resale con like this may seem valid at first glance, a little bit of research can go a long way. Unfortunately, tons of people didn’t catch this glitch.
Boyer and Marciniak’s operation was ironically listed under a number of business aliases that include: First Capital Financial Services Corp, Beneficial Business Solutions, Holiday Advertising, Vacation Funding Partners LP, Great West Funding and Property, People, Travel. In order to use these company names, accomplices scoured the internet for inactive businesses that were once licensed to operate in different states.
This allowed them to purchase and promote the entities as their own, across the entire country. By using old company information and reviews, they were able to build trust with unhappy timeshare owners. They even went as far as buying local phone numbers so those they solicited wouldn’t be caught off guard.
While it may have seemed like Boyer and Marciniak had sustained businesses nationwide, they were actually running a ghost scheme from their headquarters in Orlando, Florida. The Florida timeshare resale con was even renting interim office spaces and using false identities to carry out the misconduct. But the paper trail eventually caught up to them in the long run.
Marciniak Pleads Guilty, Joins 17 Others in Prison.
So far, 20 people have been charged for pleading guilty to mail and wire fraud. Paul Michael Marciniak, who has now been deemed as one of the main suspects, will spend 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for his selfish decisions. Aside from handing over $3.37 million as a restitution payment to the victimized timeshare owners, he’ll also receive 3 years of supervised release. Now that Paul’s involvement has officially earned him jail time, only three co-conspirators are waiting for their sentence.
