Federal Jury Convicts Two Orlando Men Of Timeshare Resale Fraud

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Eugene Warren Brewington (34, Orlando) and Chima Edozie Aligwekwe (33, Orlando) guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. Brewington was also convicted of 4 counts of wire fraud and 11 counts of mail fraud. Aligwekwe was convicted of one count of mail fraud. Each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count and will be required to pay restitution to their victims.  The sentencing hearing has been scheduled for August 25, 2016. Brewington and Aligwekwe were indicted on December 2, 2015.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Brewington founded and operated two companies in Orlando, “Timeshare Title Services LLC” and “United Clearing Solutions LLC.”  Representatives of the two companies, known as “callers,” made unsolicited phone calls to timeshare owners throughout the country and falsely claimed that a buyer existed for their timeshares.  The timeshare owners were told that buyers had deposited money into an escrow account for the purchase of their timeshares, and they received documents from the companies that appeared to be legitimate timeshare sales contracts.  Ultimately, the timeshare owners were told to send advance fees to the companies to finalize the sales.  Numerous timeshare owners made the advance fee payments to the companies but received no services and their timeshares were never sold.  Brewington managed the bank accounts where the advance fees were deposited and had rented the office spaces from where the “callers” executed the scheme.  Aligwekwe provided customer lead information for the timeshare owners and managed a team of “callers” for one of the companies.   In a three month period, more than $500,000 in timeshare owner payments were deposited into bank accounts for the two companies.  Brewington, Aligwekwe, and others associated with the companies used these funds to enrich themselves.   

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the United States Secret Service.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew C. Searle and Kara M. Wick.