Our thanks to Jeff for this on the BBC website. Extracts:

“A man duped out of £14,000 has said those responsible are “scum”, as the shocking scale of a £28m timeshare fraud involving more than 3,500 victims is revealed.

Fourteen people, including managing director Mark Rowe and his wife Nicola, have been convicted over the scheme which operated under the Sell My Timeshare brand.

The couple, both 54 and from Hampshire, bankrolled a lavish lifestyle by exploiting vulnerable victims – many in their 70s and 80s – who were desperate to sell their holiday homes…

The “elaborate” and “complex” fraud, which began in 2013, is thought to be one of the biggest conspiracies of its kind in the UK….

In total, 3,583 people across the UK were defrauded out of £28.1m, with the highest individual loss being £80,000.

Nearly 500 victims lost more than £10,000. Most were aged between 60 and 80, with some in their 90s…

But Mark and Nicola Rowe had £8m from the fraud paid into their personal bank accounts.

Their spending included almost £1m on home, garden and stable improvements, £185,000 on art, including a pencil sketch by the artist LS Lowry, and £26,000 on private jet hire.

Mark Rowe was jailed for seven-and-a-half years [J4MB emphasis] in August after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud…

Nicola Rowe [J4MB: Mark Rowe’s wife.] received a two-year suspended jail sentence [J4MB emphasis] at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering.”

Other than this couple, who were the other 12 people involved, and what sentences did they receive? First, the six men, emphases mine:

• Paul Harrison, 55, of Weymouth, four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Nihat Salih, 57, of Poole, Dorset, three years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Simon Walker, 58, of Costa Adeje in Tenerife, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• David Taylor, 65, of East Yorkshire, three years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Lee Evans, 51, of Preston, two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation
• Barrie Fox, 69, of Worcester, 21 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation
• The women:
• Jodi Beard, 43, of El Roque, Tenerife, two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Lisa Salih, 56, of Poole, two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Samantha Macaulay, 52, of San Miguel De Abona, Tenerife, 18 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months after being found guilty of fraud by false representation. Macaulay was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Joanne Physick, 46, of Los Christianos Arona, Tenerife, two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud
• Joanne Taylor, 53, of East Yorkshire,12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation
• Josephine Cuthill-Fox, 60, of Worcester, 24 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation

The seven men collectively received prison sentences almost 10x that of the women. All the women (bar one) received suspended sentences.