We wonder where Mark Cushway thought up the scheme of using the client’s own money to refund the same client and others. BERNIE MADOFF – did Mark Cushway study his PONZI scheme, the biggest ever investment fraud and then dream up his own version and apply it to his products. In Madoff´s words “Everybody was greedy, everybody wanted to go on and I just went along with it”.
His most recent ´investment scam´ the Excel Overseas Lodging Participation Programme (ELLP) may prove to be his downfall. In principal it was a great idea, if it was being run by somebody trustworthy! Clients gave him €40,000 and in return they would get a return of approximately 6% per annum and after 10 years receive back the initial investment, they were also able to pull out after 6 years, but your returns would obviously cease. These ´interest payments´ were probably only a refund of the client’s own money, not the first time he has used this stunt. Mark Cushway forever blamed the greed of the clients on the reason why they bought more & more weeks, or the latest ´upgrade´. The ELLP was an excellent idea on paper, however most clients have only received interest payments for the first year, some of the original buyers might have been lucky enough to have had 2 payments but most have received nothing for 2018 and nothing for 2019, instead they have received a letter from Alvarez & Marsal Cayman Islands Ltd in the British Virgin Islands to let them know that Excel Overseas Holding Ltd has gone into liquidation.
In the words of A & M “it appears that Excel does not have sufficient funds to meet its current payment obligations under the ELPP Investment. As such, any payments currently owed and due to you under that scheme, cannot be made at the present time.
Some clients, having received cheques for their first interest payments, bought additional ELLPS, having been convinced it was working, so instead of the original plans to only ´sell´ less than 100 of these ELLP´s, they decided to sell well over 300 of them, that´s a cool €12 million, easy money! Where has that money gone Mr Cushway? Did you use it to pay off staff, or are you hoping to use it pay off the multitude of court cases you are losing in the Spanish courts. How can there be no money left from the £12 million to pay these clients their interest payments?
Over the years Resort Properties and Silverpoint have remade and reworked their investment programme to enable them to keep relieving unsuspecting clients of their hard-earned money. In the words of Mark Cushway these clients are lucky enough to own weeks (weeks and weeks in some cases) of timeshare in some of the best resorts in Europe, this was how he tried to justify the massive investment scam he has been pulling off for years. Although Silverpoint has now also gone into liquidation.
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