A Springfield business owner was indicted by a federal grand jury May 14 as part of an alleged timeshare fraud scheme and for failure to pay more than $333,000 in federal taxes, according to a May 24 U.S. Department of Justice press release.
Brian Scroggs, owner of Springfield-based Vacation Consulting Services, LLC, and the Transfer Group, LLC, was charged with a six-count indictment, according to the release. Scroggs’ businesses focused mostly on the timeshare exit industry, claiming to help customers get out of their timeshare contracts.
In January 2019, Scroggs allegedly knew that timeshare companies were no longer negotiating with timeshare exit companies like the ones he owned, yet he was still soliciting new customers at the time “by falsely claiming to be able to get people out of their timeshare contracts,” according to the release.
Three clients allegedly paid a total amount of more than $32,000 to Scroggs’ companies at this time and never received a refund. The 52-year old business owner, who also operated Real Travel, LLC, was charged with three counts of wire fraud related to those clients.
Scroggs was also charged with three counts of failure to pay federal employment taxes after the he allegedly failed to pay U.S. Internal Revenue Service more than $333,000 in federal income taxes, as well as other taxes.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the FBI, according to the release.
