SCAMMERS have been accused of defrauding over 8,000 people in a sneaky timeshare scheme.

Two fraudsters created a business that their clients thought would help them rent their properties, but the men instead stole millions of dollars under the guise of upfront fees and closing costs.

Jess Kinmont and John P. Wenz Jr. hired individuals for their business  Pro Timeshare Resales, to deceive elderly Americans into thinking that the company could sell their timeshares, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Georgia

The men charged 2,500 for their upfront fees alone, according to prosecutors.

Information in federal court reveals the two had stolen $18million from victims.

“They never sold a single timeshare interest during the five years of the scheme’s operation,” prosecutors said.

Instead of doing what they said, after getting their initial fee, they would then trick their clients into giving them more money, under the guise of paying for “closing costs and other fees,” prosecutors claimed.

Some victims were scammed on multiple different occasions, causing people to lose thousands of dollars.

The homeowners would ask for refunds after never receiving profits on their homes, however, they would be ignored by the fraudsters, the prosecution stated.

It was also revealed by prosecutors that Kinmont and Wenz ran their “business” from January 2012 and December 2016.

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In 2016, the FTC filed a lawsuit against the two men, which would eventually lead to them being permanently banned from running the business in 2018.

The two were ordered to give up $3.4million in assets to settle the FTC charges.

Kitmont had to surrender another $1.84million, a property worth $600,000, a Range Rover, a Ferrari, a Bayliner boat, and his Rolex watch.

Wenz, on the other hand, had to give up $215,000, as well as two houses, two trucks, silver coins, and a diamond ring the FTC stated.

The two had pleaded guilty, separately, for wire fraud conspiracy.

Kinmont was sentenced by a judge to seven years and Prison and Wenz was sentenced to three years and ten months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced.

“Kinmont and Wenz deserve their time in federal prison for deceiving elderly Americans trying to get out of timeshares” Samuel Levine, the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement to the Miami Herald.

The two were supposed to pay restitution as part of their sentencing.

Kinmont has to pay $11,699,376.60, while Wenz is ordered to pay $4,845,425.88 in restitution.

Fritz Scheller, one of the defense attorneys representing Wenz, told McClatchy that the “court imposed a just sentence” for his client.

Scheller believes his client Wenz has “great remorse, as well as the significant changes he made in his life these past seven years” and added that Wenz “appreciates that the federal prosecutors in this matter litigated this case vigorously but fairly.”

“As a defense attorney, you cannot ask for anything more,” Scheller said.