Dorset Police news site

South West Regional Organised Crime Unit investigation

Fourteen people have been convicted of defrauding thousands of victims across the UK in a holiday investment scam, which netted them more than £28 million, making it one of the largest crimes of its type in the UK.

Headed up by Mark Rowe, 54, the conspiracy operated under the brand ‘Sell My Timeshare’ (SMT) to target owners desperate to relinquish their properties.

But, after being lured to meetings at SMT’s Bournemouth, York, Stratford-on-Avon or Tenerife based offices under the premise of selling their timeshares, victims instead endured high-pressure sales meetings, which often lasted up to six hours.

These meetings saw victims pushed to ‘trade in’ their timeshares and make an additional payment for the company’s Monster Credits scheme, which promised discounts on holidays and shopping as well as the opportunity to trade them with other customers on a dedicated platform. In many cases, victims took out loans to purchase the credits, typically ‘investing’ around £8,000. They would later discover that not only were the credits worthless, but in most cases, they still owned and incurred the costs of their timeshares.

Senior Investigating Officer Peter Highway from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, which ran the six-year complex investigation, said: “The fact so many people were defrauded in this case reflects the lengths Mark Rowe went to both to lure victims to meetings with his criminal sales team and continually invent new methods to deceive them. He paid for TV and magazine ads, put victims up in hotels, and even created fake virtual offices and fake personas.

“We know how important each guilty verdict has been to the thousands of victims targeted by Mark Rowe and his staff. Many of the victims have shown immense strength in attending court to give evidence, with some enduring extensive periods of cross-examination.

“Fraud cases, by their nature, are complex. When you have a case of this scale, where defendants made use of hundreds of bank accounts in multiple countries to move around millions of pounds stolen from thousands of victims, that complexity is amplified.

“These convictions are testament to the hard work and dedication of the investigation team and CPS, together with the courage of the witnesses to stand in front of the jury and recount their experiences.”

The convictions follow four trials held over two years at Southwark Crown Court. Reporting restrictions were in place until last month’s guilty plea by the final defendant, Nicola Rowe, wife of Mark Rowe.

Gayle Ramsey, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “These defendants acted in a completely selfish and manipulative manner to make huge sums for themselves and exploited time share owners many of whom were elderly.

“They provided victims with the false hope of disposing of timeshares in exchange for a valuable investment when in reality they were each left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after purchasing something which was worthless.

“The CPS worked very closely with the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit to track down these fraudsters and bring them to justice. This was an extremely large and complex investigation and prosecution involving vast amounts of material. After multiple trials lasting years, we have finally ensured that justice has been served through these convictions.

“We will now seek to pursue any money or assets gained by the defendants through this offending with our Proceeds of Crime Division.”

The offenders

Found guilty of conspiracy to defraud

Trial 1 (October 2023 - October 2024); sentenced January 2025:

‘Managing Director’ Mark Rowe, 54, of Los Blanquitos in Tenerife. Sentenced to seven-and-a-half years. Five-year Company Directors Disqualification Order.

‘Marketing Director’ Jodi Beard, 43, of El Roque, Tenerife. Sentenced to two years, suspended for two years and 150 hours unpaid work.

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Paul Harrison, 55, of Weymouth. Sentenced to four-and-a-half years.

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Nihat Paul Salih, 57, of Poole, Dorset. Sentenced to three years.

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Lisa Salih, 56, of Poole, Dorset. Sentenced to two years suspended for two years and 10 days of rehabilitation work.

Trial 2 (October 2024 – February 2025); sentenced April 2025:

‘Sales Director’ Simon Walker, 58, of Costa Adeje in Tenerife. Sentenced to four-and-a-half years. Five-year Company Directors Disqualification Order.

‘Compliance Manager’ Joanne Physick, 46, of Los Christianos Arona, Tenerife. Sentenced to two-and-a-half years.

Trial 3 (June -July 2025); sentenced September 2025:

‘Senior Client Advisor’ David Taylor, 65, of East Yorkshire. Sentenced to three years.

Found guilty of Fraud by False Representation:

Trial 1 (October 2023 - October 2024); sentenced January 2025:

‘Credits Administrator’ Samantha Macaulay, 52, of San Miguel De Abona, Tenerife. Sentenced to 18 months suspended for 18 months and 100 hours unpaid work. She was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

Pleaded guilty to Fraud by False Representation:

Sentenced September 2025:

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Joanne Taylor, 53, of East Yorkshire. Sentenced to 12 months suspended for two years and a 15-day rehabilitation requirement.

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Lee Evans, 51, of Preston. Sentenced to two years suspended for two years and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Sentenced October 2025:

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Barrie Fox, 69, of Worcester. To be sentenced on Friday 17 October 2025.

‘Senior Client Advisor’ Josephine Cuthill-Fox, 60, of Worcester. To be sentenced on Friday 17 October 2025.

Pleaded guilty to money laundering:

Sentenced October 2025:

‘Finance Director’ Nicola Rowe, 54, of Los Blanquitos in Tenerife. To be sentenced on Friday 17 October 2025.

The victims

3,583 victims across the UK who were defrauded of £28,107,000.

Most were aged between 60 and 80 at the time they were targeted by SMT.

The investigation in numbers

SWROCU investigators:

• Reviewed 5.5 million recordings of phone calls held by SMT, listening to and documenting the contents of almost 23,000.
• Reviewed 65 million digital files for relevance, examining and documenting over 104,000 of them.
• Analysed 503 bank accounts of offenders and companies in 12 different countries, 54 of which were being used by Mark and Nicola Rowe.

Prosecution case in numbers

Reviewed 35,000 pages of evidence to consider before making the decision to authorise charges

• Analysed 60,528 pages of exhibits to build a case for trials
• Assessed 934 pages of statements from witnesses and victims to be put forward in the prosecution case against defendants

Next steps – confiscation and compensation

A full confiscation investigation is being carried out by SWROCU, supported by the CPS, and all available assets owned by Mark and Nicola Rowe are restrained. In total, 11 Confiscation Orders are being applied for.

Peter Highway continued: “The next step, which is well underway, is to secure Confiscation Orders that reflect the benefit they made from this fraud. We have taken steps to restrain bank accounts and assets that may be used towards this.

“Ultimately, we want to get as much money back to victims as possible, but we know a significant proportion of the money has been spent funding luxury lifestyles and victims are unlikely to get all their money back.”

Beware of recovery fraudsters

Many of the victims have been contacted by companies claiming to be able to recover their money in return for an upfront fee.

“We would always advise people not to engage with such organisations as many are involved in recovery fraud and seeking to make people victims for a second time, which can be devastating,” Mr Highway continued.