Gilded Rose Royal Vacation Property ShopLivingston Property ServicesCapital International Bonds False vacation club and timeshare resale Guadalajara, Mexico Internet

I bought a vacation service with Gilded Rose Royal in Playa del Carmen on Feb 21, 2017 with the guarantee that my two timeshare properties would be sold at a fixed price of $54,700. For this I paid $11,067 via credit card (two cards used). To sell the timeshares, I was willing to pay the travel service fee. There was also to be a $3000 fee paid later to Livingston Property Services, to broker the sale. To start the sale process, I was told by a person identifying themselves as part of Gilded Rose Royal to wire through my bank $3000 (no credit cards allowed). The wire was sent to Mancini Management in Mexico. This was done on March 14, 2017. I was told it would be 60 days to complete the sale.

I was also asked to put money into Gilded Rose Royal (for “gilded dollars” worth three times the actual amount deposited and used to buy services) via PayPal (no credit cards allowed) to take advantage of discounts on travel. The contact I spoke with is Christopher Martin at VLO@gildedroseroyal.com. I never purchased “gilded dollars”. Trying to use their travel services was a joke. Everything had to be by email which they often ignored. I complained about their lack of response and told I needed to write to reservations via email and they would get back to me (again via email). I never trusted them to make a reservation for me, since I’m sure the PayPal payment would also be lost money.

I complained shortly after the 60 days had expired that I wanted the money from the sale of my timeshares. At this point I was becoming extremely suspicious of Gilded Rose Royal and the entire process. I was then contacted by a Mr. Rollins (using a Mexican phone number) saying he was with Vacation Property Shop and needed near $12,000 for IVA tax to complete a sale for which he had funds ready. I refused that offer and said to cancel the deal and return my money. I also received email instructions from Jeff Bridges.

 I contacted Gilded Rose Royal about this and they said he was a phony and I should only talk to Capital International Bonds. Next David Kraus called (1-646-844-3362) from Capital Intl Bonds and said he was handling the sale and was holding on deposit the $54,700. His company had just moved him to NYC from Chicago. He had all the information on the sale and our personal information. He seemed very real and gave me his Illinois Real Estate broker license number. I looked it up and he was on the Commission's list with that number. They even had a web site www.capitalinternationalbond.com I felt slightly more assured. He told me there would be a need to register as a foreign investor per NAFTA regulations. This would be $2735 and should be wired to Mancini Management SA DE CV at Ave Acueducto No 4851 Piso 4, Fracc. Real Acueducto, CP 43116 Guadalajara, Jalisco account no. 021320040594830081. I foolishly (and with false hope) made the wire on 7/25/2017. On the same day, he emailed that S.A.T. taxes were due. I realized at this point that I was truly screwed. I found a website www.insidethegate.com that reports on scams. Their "Mexico Timeshare Fraud" described my scam in some detail. After reading the article in despair I decided to try and help catch these thieves if possible.

I went to the KY attorney general site and they recommended filing the information at www.econsumer.gov My complaint confirmation reference is 86591738. Unfortunately for me and others is that this may not lead to any real investigation due to the volume of scams they receive. They may use it should it lead to a group pattern of illegality they can uncover. I know the www.insidethegate.com scam detail dates to 2015, so not much has changed in trying to stop them.

Other events

Jul 31, 2017 David Kraus (Capital Intl Bonds) called and left message that he was still holding my funds and just needed the taxes to be paid via wire.

Aug 4, 2017 Received a voice message from Sandra Lopez a 3:09 pm saying she wanted to try and resolve any problem I was having since the bank had contacted her about the dispute.

Aug 4, 2017 Returned her call at 3:13 pm using both the number she called from (+52 322-226-2520) and the number she left (+52 322-221-5084) In both cases the call was answered by Carlos at a hotel. He said I wanted the timeshare office and transferred me. On both calls, no one answered though he said I was calling during business hours. He agreed to take my number and leave them a message to call me.

Aug 8, 2017 David Kraus called. I answered the phone on this occasion. I told him I knew what was happening now and would not be sending any more money. He continued to act innocent and asked if I wanted to cancel the sale. I said yes. He asked if I wanted the $3000 broker fee returned and I said yes. (Unfortunately, that will never happen.)

Aug 9, 2017 Requested all monies returned since scam was obvious.