A court case in America has recently been heard with a criminal pleading guilty to a count of securities fraud. This is a category B felony and applies to his role in a multi-state timeshare resale scam across America. The felon, Louise Joseph Curto III, who is also known as Lou Curto and Joe Curto admitted his guilt to fraudulent acts that were committed against consumers between January 2013 and December 2015.
This type of crime, Securities Fraud, is punishable by 12-240 months of imprisonment and a court fine of up to $500,000. However, the hearing for sentencing for Curto is scheduled for June 20, 2018, in the Eighth Judicial District Court. Therefore we are yet to understand exactly what penalty Curto will pay for his crimes.
Some of the people named in the indictment as victims of Curto and his vicious scam include Keith Iverson, Jacquelyn Christenson, Therese Alt, Kristina Buchanon and Stephanie Tanner.
The scam was operated via a business in Las Vegas which went by the name of Bluwyn Managemet, LLC. Through this Bluwyn, Curto would canvass owners of unwanted timeshare properties. Curto would make promises that were simply fake and tell his customers that he has people interested in buying the unwanted timeshare. This obviously was a false claim which made his potential customers stand up and pay attention. The trick, Curto told the timeshare owners that they had to pay up-front fees and/or taxes for the services. Subsequently, what happened, Curto’s victims found that their unwanted timeshare was never sold and the monies that they had paid Curto were never refunded back to them.
Before registering and operating Bluwyn he had two other businesses that were similar re-sale businesses. In 2009 he registered a company named C & C Timeshare Resale, LLC in St. Pete Beach, FL., a Maia Ciesluk was named as a manager.
Curto and Ciesluk were both old employees of the infamous Pro Player Timeshare Resale company. They set up C & C and allegedly police reports stated within months that they were receiving complaints from apparent victims. Regrettably, at this time, the police were unable to take any action against the pair. That particular company was administratively dissolved in 2011 and is now listed as inactive by the state of Florida.
This didn’t stop Curto and in 2010 he formed yet another timeshare resale company called ‘Your Timeshare Guru’. This was registered in Florida and operating in collaboration with C&C. According to reports that business was also dissolved in September 2012. On July 7th, 2011 Curto brought his business ventures to Las Vegas and created the entity Bluwyn Management, LLC.
Curto’s case was investigated and prosecuted by the Fraud Unit of the Office of the Nevada Attorney.
“This guilty plea sends a message that those who engage in timeshare resale fraud will be brought to justice,” said Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt.
We will keep you updated.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk