Amber Jones, Telemarketing Scheme, Illinois 2014

Florida Woman Sentenced for Telemarketing Scam in Illinois

East St. Louis, IL - A Florida woman was sentenced to prison for her role in a nationwide telemarketing scheme that left over 2,500 timeshare owners across the country with significant financial losses.

Amber Jones, 28, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was sentenced to one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for her part in the conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. In addition to her prison sentence, Jones was also ordered to pay $6,934 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.

According to the investigation, Jones was a telemarketer who worked for National Solutions and related companies located in Orlando, Florida. The telemarketers for National Solutions placed cold calls to timeshare owners and then falsely represented that their company had actual buyers for the owners’ timeshare property.

The company solicited advanced fees of up to several thousand dollars in purported closing costs that were to be refunded to the owner at closing. Many timeshare owners were told that their closings would occur within a matter of days. Despite collecting fees from these victims, the National Solutions companies never sold a single timeshare unit and instead pocketed the advanced fees.

The investigation determined that Jones’ participation in the scheme began in August 2010 and continued through April 2011. During this time, over 2,500 timeshare owners across the country were scammed to the tune of more than $6 million.

The prosecution of this case follows an investigation by the Midwest Region Office of the Federal Trade Commission and the St. Louis Field Office of the Chicago Division of the United States Postal Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Quinley and Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Hallock.

Amber Jones, Real full name: Amber Jones, Defendant in the United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. The exact criminal charges were one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The city and state involved were East St. Louis, Illinois. The exact date of the sentencing was November 14, 2014. The sentence or outcome was one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. The dollar amounts involved included $6,934 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.

The investigation into this case highlights the importance of vigilance when dealing with telemarketing calls. Timeshare owners should be cautious of unsolicited calls and never provide personal or financial information to unknown callers.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/florida-woman-sentenced-telemarketing-scheme