Former Employee Of Timeshare Consulting Firm Sentenced To Three Years In Prison For Fraud Conspiracy

CAMDEN, N.J. – A former employee of The Vacation Ownership Group LLC, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution for conspiring to defraud owners of timeshare properties, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Eric Reilly, 34, of Galloway, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Reilly entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman, who also imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The Vacation Ownership Group, a/k/a VO Group LLC, purported to offer owners of timeshares consulting services, including timeshare cancellation services. In September 2010, Reilly started working at the VO Group and was trained by VO Group managers to call using a prepared script and regularly lie to customers. Reilly would falsely state he was calling in response to a complaint they had made to timeshare developers and lenders. He gave customers the false impression that he was working for Wyndham Vacation Resorts, a developer of timeshare resorts. Reilly then would falsely represent that the VO Group could pay off the customers’ timeshares or have their timeshares cancelled. Reilly falsely told some customers that their credit would not be damaged if they stopped paying for their timeshares. Reilly gave some customers “references” who were actually VO Group employees posing as satisfied customers. After hearing Reilly’s false representations, some customers sent checks to the VO Group, including one customer who sent the VO Group a $31,385 check. Reilly admitted to causing more than $70,000 in losses.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Reilly to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $3,040,767.54 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents from the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; and special agents from the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Garcia, New York Region, for the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. David Walk Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

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Defense counsel: Gilbert J. Scutti Esq., Somerdale, New Jersey