United States v. Max Joseph Chilson, et. al.

Between March 2009 and March 2011, the defendants allegedly engaged in a scheme to fraudulently induce timeshare property owners to send them money.  The telemarketers obtained lists containing contact information for timeshare property owners (victims) and during the telemarketing telephone call to the victim, promised buyers for their timeshares.  To consummate the promised sale of the property, the telemarketer instructed the victim to pay “closing costs” for the sale, usually between $900 to $3,000.  Once the victim sent the money, either by check, credit card, or wire transfer, the telemarketer or customer service representative would make excuses and delay the promised “closing” for approximately 90 days, so as to prevent the victim from successfully stopping payment on the check or obtaining a charge back on the credit card.