Fraudster couple scammed pensioners out of £28m in Britain's biggest-ever timeshare scam

Mark and Nicola Rowe, both 54, were handed prison sentences after running Britain's biggest timeshare sale scam for more than six years.

The pair falsely offered to sell timeshares for elderly owners worried about rising maintenance fees, using former Hollyoaks actress Julie Peasgood to promote their company in glossy TV adverts.

Read more: Australian racing driver accused of raping live-in nurse for Michael Schumacher home named

Read more: Body found in search for missing woman last seen on way to nature reserve

But unbeknown to the Soap star, the Rowes were leading a gang of 14 fraudsters who duped 3,583 victims into handing over their life savings and pensions.

Their clients, the majority of whom were aged 60-80, were told they would make huge profits on their timeshare apartments if they invested in a holiday and retail voucher scheme.

The crooks told their victims their investments would double in 14 months, going as far as to fly them out to their fake offices in Tenerife and overwhelm them with six hours of high-pressure sales pitches.

But this project turned out to be worthless and victims as old as 94 were conned out of £80,000.

To make their scheme more believable, the Rowes invested heavily in flashy advertising, brochures and websites to lure victims in.

In some cases, pensioners were pressured by the criminals to take out bank loans to increase their investments into the fictitious schemes.

Mr and Mrs Rowe spread their £8 million profits across 54 bank accounts and used the stolen cash to indulge in homes in Tenerife and a £2.4 million home in Hampshire.

They also purchased a £56,000 Bang& Olufsen sound system, a £31,500 pencil sketch by L.S. Lowry and several statues for their luxurious countryside plot.

Their two children enjoyed private school education costing £110,000, while the parents enjoyed a £1,000 night at the Dorchester Hotel.

But the Rowe's most expensive outing saw them invest £26,000 on a private jet flight, photos of which were posted on Facebook.

The greedy couple also blew £3,600 on designer clothes from Selfridges and Harvey Nichols and owned £9,000 worth of high-end watches.

Meanwhile, their clients were left bankrupt and sinking into debt, as they found out the scheme was fake and their timeshares had not been sold.

Because of this, many were "trapped in a living nightmare" as they faced outstanding maintenance bills on their timeshares and no money to pay them off.

One pensioner told Southwark Crown Court: "I'm now supposed to be retired and enjoying life, but as a result of being a victim of Mark Rowe's fraud my quality of life has been reduced to a struggle - I'm unable to afford to even pay my own rent.

"I've been a successful businessman all of my life, but feel that I've let my wife down, and I cannot see how I can put this right in the time that we have left."

The last of the Rowe's gang was sentenced on Thursday.

At an earlier hearing, Rowe was jailed for seven and a half years' after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

His wife is due to be sentenced today after pleading guilty to money laundering.

CPS specialist prosecutor Gayle Ramsey said: "These defendants acted in a completely selfish and manipulative manner to make huge sums for themselves and exploited timeshare 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."