William O’Hanlon, a/k/a “Patrick Burns,” a/k/a “William Burns,” 60, and his wife Karen Stefanowski, 62, both from of Loxahatchee, Florida operated the companies WILLIAMS ANDREWS BURNS LLC, RESORT BNB, INC., and WILLIAMS & BURNS, INC. (collectively referred to as “WAB”)
Both pleaded guilty to defrauding timeshare owners over the age of 55 out of their hard earned money. This was done using multiple scams, including:
Falsely stating that the timeshare owners had “bonus” timeshare weeks which WAB would rent for them in return for an upfront fee.
Falsely guaranteeing thousands of dollars in rental income for the timeshare owners.
Offering fake collections/recovery services, offering to obtain refunds of monies previously paid by the timeshare owners in other fraudulent scams, in return for fees.
False and misleading statements in many instances to both timeshare owners and the banks that issue their credit cards.
Falsely claiming that the timeshare owner had been identified as a victim of timeshare fraud and was entitled to monies that were held by a government entity, often referred to as the Attorney General’s Office or the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), and that WAB would obtain those monies for the timeshare owner in return for the payment of an upfront fee.
Offering additional fraudulent services to timeshare owners, including occasionally offering timeshare buyouts/take-overs.
Read the entire story on the United States Attorney’s Office here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/leader-telemarketing-scheme-targeting-timeshare-owners-over-age-55-wife-plead-guilty
This is just one of countless examples of timeshare exit and resale fraud. The Timeshare Consumer Protection Center was developed to inform and protect timeshare owners from these schemes.