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Brothers Behaving Badly – Timeshare Scammers Jailed

The Birmingham brothers have been ordered to pay back “Hidden Assets” or face an additional 15 months in prison.

Brothers Amarjit and Shivjit Bagharian, from Smethwick, were both jailed for seven years in February 2016 after admitting a conspiracy to defraud topping £1 Million. Operating under 2 bogus companies, Sun Properties Solutions and Avon Client Services, they duped over 38 victims into handing over money in exchange for timeshare relinquishment services, even promising their victims could obtain a handsome return on their investment.

However, the duo made no effort to sell timeshares, nor had any intention to do so. Instead … Read more

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Employee of the Month

Here at Praetorian Legal we love rewarding members of our team for their hard work and dedication.

The winner for Employee of the Month Award, April 2018, is Samuel Isley Claims Director. Head of Operations and Business Development Director, Harry Darby presented the trophy to Samuel and his £350 shopping voucher prize.

When asked how he felt about receiving the prize for the first time Samuel said “I feel privileged to have won Employee of the Month for April, I have the pleasure to come into work on a daily basis and work alongside some amazing people. I am grateful … Read more

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UPDATE: Holiday Products Fraud, 40 Months for Prolific Conman!

Francis ‘Frank’ Madden took holidays around the Mediterranean while his businesses fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of pounds from unsuspecting customers.

Madden, 61 from Bournemouth, has been jailed for 40 months and barred from holding a directorship for a decade! The Conman, who was jailed this week, ruled his companies with an ‘Iron Fist’, despite spending much of his time on cruises with his wife and spending thousands of pounds in doing so.

Staff at his companies, Central Marketing LTD, Glenleigh LTD and Reco Corp LTD, were instructed to cold-call hundreds of people a day inviting them to attend a … Read more

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Whistle Blower Convicted for falsely listing on Companies House Website!

A Warwickshire businessman has become the first person to be prosecuted by Companies House, after he falsely set-up companies on the Government register. Kevin Brewer admitted giving false information to Companies House and to using the names of prominent figures from the City of Westminster.

Companies House is the United Kingdom’s register of companies and is an executive agency and trading fund of her Majesty’s Government. It falls under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is also a member of the Public Data Group. The companies register contains information about company addresses, accounts, those … Read more

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Are Diamond Resorts about to go Public?

Are Diamond Resorts about to go public?

Diamond Resorts owns a network of 379 vacation destinations in 35 countries around the world and sells vacation ownership points. In June 2016, Apollo Global Management made a successful offer to purchase Diamond Resorts International. On January 18th 2018, the company underwent a brand refresh, updating its logo and officially dropped the “International” from its name, and became known as Diamond Resorts. Along with these changes, as many as 1,000 employees at more than 15 European locatiions were told they were losing their jobs. This does not appear to have generated enough profit … Read more

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Royal Wedding Beneficiaries Named.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle choose Scotty’s Little Soldiers as Royal Wedding Beneficiaries.

Scotty’s Little Soldiers is a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved British Forces Children and young people and a charity that we here at Praetorian Legal are also supporter’s of.

Founded by war widow Nikki Scott in 2010, Scotty’s Little Soldiers supports children across the UK who have lost a parent while serving in the British Armed Forces and was set up in memory of Nikki’s husband and father of her two children, Corporal Lee Scott, after he was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.

Currently Scotty’s Little Soldiers … Read more

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‘New Deal’ for Consumers.

‘New Deal’ for consumers boosts consumer rights and law.

The EU currently has some of the stongest consumer protection rules in the world. The rights the EU has put in place for consumers give predictability and confidence to both consumers and businesses and include the right to safe products, the right to return a product bought online within 14 days and the right to have a product repaired or replaced within a guarantee period. These are just some of the discernible rights that make a difference to peoples lives. These shared rights have arguably created a greater consumer trust in … Read more

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“Its not your Parent’s Timeshare anymore”

That’s the message from Bluegreen Vacations Corp, a Boca Raton based company seeking to tap the next generation of Traveller’s.

Bluegreen is planning a major expansion to the western U.S of the company’s vacation destinations, whilst also trying to expand it’s customer base, and have announced completion of the purchase of Eilan Hotel and Spa for $34 million. The vacation ownership company is seeking to endeavour to target younger travellers by expanding into hip locations, offering the types of activities and experiences millennials may enjoy. Eilan Hotel and Spa features a fitness centre, luxury locations and is close to Six … Read more

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The Ombudsman – Who Do They Work For? The Customer or the Bank?

The Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) is directed to investigate when customers have unresolved complaints against financial institutions. Channel 4’s Dispatches went undercover to investigate allegations that complaints had been handled by officials with inadequate training and that banks had been wrongly favoured over customers.

Dispatches sent an undercover reporter to work as a trainee investigator at the service and some of their discoveries were truly shocking.

Some of the allegations include:

  • Using Google to find out how financial products work.
  • Staff being poorly trained, some with little or no knowledge of how to work a case file.
  • Some staff not
… Read more
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Crown Court Trial Starts For Four Charged with Timeshare Fraud

The trial of Francis Madden, Claire Garland, Keith Furneval and Jean Furneval begins with prosecutors claiming that the four fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of pounds from unsuspecting customers wishing to purchase holiday products, over a period of around five years.

The four were charged in July 2017 in connection with the alleged fraud. The trial by Jury is scheduled to last six weeks.

Jean Furneval is charged with participating in a fraudulent business carried out by a sole trader and carrying on the business of a company with intent to defraud creditors or for other purposes, between August 2011 … Read more

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