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Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SHADIA MELISSA AGUILAR SARMIENTO, 30, of Mexico, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to approximately 13 months of imprisonment, time already served, for conspiring with others to defraud owners of timeshare properties.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Aguilar Sarmiento and others participated in an advance fee scheme that targeted owners of timeshare properties at various Mexican resorts, including timeshare owners in the U.S. and Canada. The conspiracy operated as a business in Mexico that used several different company names in its communications with timeshare owners, including Club World Travel, Luxury Destinations, DeRemate, and Smart Travel.
As part of the scheme, members of the conspiracy contacted timeshare owners, claimed to be representatives of companies that were interested in purchasing timeshares, and offered to purchase the timeshares from the owners. To create the impression that the purchase offers were legitimate, the conspirators referred the timeshare owners to people they indicated were attorneys, who the conspirators indicated would represent the timeshare owners in the transaction. These purported attorneys were real licensed attorneys, including attorneys who practiced in Connecticut, whose names and identities were used without their knowledge or permission. The conspirators, while impersonating the attorneys, emailed purchase agreements on attorney letterhead to the timeshare owners. The purchase agreements listed the purchase price that the buyers were paying the timeshare owners, stated that the buyer would pay any associated fees, and indicated that any additional fees the timeshare owner needed to pay to sell and transfer the timeshare would be added to the purchase price, so that the owner would recoup those additional fees.
Many timeshare owners signed the purchase agreements believing that the purchase offers were legitimate. After a timeshare owner signed a purchase agreement, a member of the conspiracy would contact the timeshare owner falsely claiming to be a representative of a Mexican government agency or another authority requesting payment of fees, taxes, or other costs before the sale could be completed. Many timeshare owners paid these fees and taxes through international wire transfers to bank accounts in Mexico that were controlled by members of the conspiracy. Once the additional money was paid, the conspirators would often inform the timeshare owner of another fee that needed to be paid. Many timeshare owners then paid those additional fees, and the process repeated until the timeshare owner stopped paying the fees.
Timeshare owners never received any sales proceeds.
From approximately December 2018 until January 2021, when Aguilar Sarmiento was involved in the scheme, more than 50 timeshare owners were victimized and lost a total of approximately $2 million.
As part of her sentence, Aguilar Sarmiento was ordered to pay restitution of $2,065,852.85 to the victim timeshare owners.
Aguilar Sarmiento has been detained since January 12, 2024, when she was arrested in San Diego, California, after entering the U.S. on a visitor visa. On November 19, 2024, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.
A spokesperson for Attorney Carson confirmed that Aguilar Sarmiento will be returned to Mexico.
