Osvaldo (“Oz”) Gonzalez, 44, was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of people across the country in a nationwide timeshare resale scam. The former Florida resident previously pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on November 29, 2018.

From 2008 through May 19, 2011, Gonzalez worked as a telemarketer for a scam business in Orlando, Florida. The fraudulent company known as “National Solutions” operated under more than a dozen business names, including Bluescape Timeshares International, Country Wide Timeshares, Countrywide Timeshares MA, Landmark Timeshares, Propertys Direct, Quicksale Propertys, Sun Property Networks, Sun Property’s, Universal Propertys, VIM Timeshares, Propertys DRK, Quick Sale Advisers, Quick Sale International, City Resorts, Resort Advisers, American Timeshares, Exit Week, and Resort Advisors International.

National Solutions purchased lists of timeshare owners located throughout the United States, cold-called them, and told them that the company had found buyers for their timeshares. This was completely false – there were no buyers. If the owners expressed an interest in selling, the telemarketers told them that they would have to pay upfront fees of $1,000 to $3,500 for “closing costs.” After National Solutions had pocketed the consumers’ money, it did nothing for them. When the victims called back and asked about the status of the sales of their timeshares, socalled customer service representatives gave them a variety of false excuses to explain the delays.

During the time it was in existence, National Solutions defrauded over 2,500 individuals out of more than $6 million. The victims were located in Canada and throughout the United States, including seven counties in the Southern District of Illinois.

In July 2011, the Federal Trade Commission raided the business pursuant to a court order issued in the Middle District of Florida. Since then, a dozen other National Solutions employees have been prosecuted and convicted in the Southern District of Illinois for their participation in

the scam, including the owner of National Solutions, Leandro Velazquez, who was sentenced back in May 2015 to 108 months in prison.

The indictment against Gonzalez was returned on January 23, 2014, but Gonzalez remained a fugitive until 2018, when he was located in the Philippines and extradited back to the United States. In addition to his prison sentence, the court ordered Gonzalez to serve a five-year term of supervised release and pay $45,299.06 in restitution to the victims of his crime.

The prosecutions of the National Solutions defendants followed an investigation by the FTC’s Midwest Region Office and the St. Louis Field Office of the Chicago Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. The Gonzalez case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Scott A. Verseman.

Consumers who believe that they have been the victim of a consumer fraud should call the Federal Trade Commission 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or file an online complaint at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.