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Uri Fried gets year in jail fo not reporting 1.9mil in income via timeshare sales

TUGBrian

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Don't mess with the irs

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Whenever I saw his name, I interpreted it as "U-R Fried." Looks like he is.
.
 
That was ONLY for 2 tax years!

Wow, was he raking in the dollars --- almost a 1MM per year.
 
Tried, then fried...

Whenever I saw his name, I interpreted it as "U-R Fried." Looks like he is.

...and with the possible exception of David SeaGull, CEO of Wastegate, IMHO it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, spearfishing in the murky waters of Planet Timeshare. :rolleyes:
 
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Wow. I had forgotten about Uri but clearly some prosecutor had not. Thanks Wisconsin!
 
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I communicated with this guy but never gave him money.
I remember him really putting me down.
 
Bought a Week from Uri way back when. Price was right, something like $100. Closing/Transfer, etc. went smoothly. Not saying he wasn't a crook but my transaction with him went off without a snag.

George
 
And the Karma gods are smiling...
 
Sounds like this person was selling resale timeshares and a lots of resale timeshares and at what price?

After taxes he still cleared 1.2 million dollars for two (2) years not bad.
 
Uri Fried posted at least once (and probably only once) on TUG (time stamp 09-29-2004 13:18).
I copied the whole thread into Word before the forum software was completely changed with all prior threads lost. Folks here might be interested in reading his post. The question I have (for a moderator) is it appropriate for me to re-post Uri's missive to TUG? If yes, should I include all the posts within the thread that preceded (and followed) his?

FWIW, one of our resale purchases was from Uri (maybe 6 - 8 years ago); it was completed with no problems. Of course, that says nothing about his dealings with the IRS.

Jack
 
generally the IRS is pretty good at extracting the money owed, plus a hefty penalty...on top of the jail time.
 
Uri Fried posted at least once (and probably only once) on TUG (time stamp 09-29-2004 13:18).
I copied the whole thread into Word before the forum software was completely changed with all prior threads lost. Folks here might be interested in reading his post. The question I have (for a moderator) is it appropriate for me to re-post Uri's missive to TUG? If yes, should I include all the posts within the thread that preceded (and followed) his?

FWIW, one of our resale purchases was from Uri (maybe 6 - 8 years ago); it was completed with no problems. Of course, that says nothing about his dealings with the IRS.

Jack

I can't answer for the MODs but only say I would be interested in reading it.
 
It's been a tough year for Uri. Earlier this year he was in trouble with the Wisconsin DOJ:

Government Actions
Wisconsin Department of Justice files Suit
Date of Action: 6/25/2015
On June 25, 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Justice ("WI DOJ"), filed a complaint in Dane County Circuit Court against Uri Fried, owner of The Timeshare Group, Inc, and the Timeshare Company, LLC. The suit alleges that Fried and his companies engaged in a pattern and practice of violations of Wisconsin consumer protection laws in connection with their marketing and sale of "timeshare transfer" services to customers in Wisconsin and nationwide. Fried offered "timeshare transfer" services for customers who owned timeshares in both deeded and non-deeded jurisdictions. Upon contact by an interested customer, or upon referral by a third-party partner, Fried assembled information and documents regarding the customer's timeshare ownership. According to the complaint, if the timeshare was deeded, Fried prepared a Warranty Deed describing the conveyance of the timeshare owners interest to a limited liability company ("LLC") that was created and controlled by Fried. If the timeshare was not deeded, Fried filled out whatever transfer form was used at the customer's resort, requesting ownership be changed into the name of one of Fried's LLCs.

According to the complaint, Fried created at least 23 LLCs registered with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, with the registered agent being himself or one of his employees. The LLCs were created to hold transferred timeshares. After transferring the timeshare into one of these LLCs, the entity ceased to take any action to exercise the rights and responsibilities of ownership, such as paying annual fees or taxes. As some timeshare resorts began to recognize these LLCs, they refused to accept the transfer paperwork.

As well, according to the complaint, some of the timeshares Fried transferred into his LLCs were later marketed on Ebay for sale.

In addition, postcards were directly mailed to individuals nationwide. The postcards had a variety of claims on them regarding timeshare disposal. In the complaint, it is alleged that these claims are false, deceptive, or misleading; in particular, many customers would incur late fees and other charges for missed maintenance payments as a result of the refusal of the resort to recognize the transfer, even though the postcard claimed a customer could dispose of a timeshare for "only $585."

The State is seeking permanent injunctive relief, civil forfeitures, and restitution for any persons who suffered a loss as a result of the defendants' alleged illegal acts.
 
certainly reads like he was running a viking ship....that would explain the tremendous profits during that time period!
 
Interesting post BigRob.

Not understanding why what he did was wrong though (besides the IRS and postcards he mailed to people).

Transferring timeshares into LLC's and then putting them on eBay for sale. Sounds legit. What am I missing here?
 
Interesting post BigRob.

Not understanding why what he did was wrong though (besides the IRS and postcards he mailed to people).

Transferring timeshares into LLC's and then putting them on eBay for sale. Sounds legit. What am I missing here?

Some of these timeshares were so "Kaput" that nobody will buy. So, he will keep them in his LLC and than LLC will go bankrupt or something like that, giving no recourse to the resorts to collect any fee. This is fraud.
 
nothing wrong at all with transferring a timeshare into a valid LLC...

plenty wrong with transferring a timeshare into an LLC setup for the sole purpose of abandoning said timeshare.
 
Bought a few from the company over the years. Some major mistakes with one of them, minor mistakes with another. I bought from Brandon Fried, maybe a son? Is he going to jail too?

I get calls from companies trying to help me with my timeshare several times a day, 7 days a week. It's tiresome, and when I ignore the calls, they just call back again at a less convenient time.

I am glad to see the government is cracking down, but of course this is about taxes and the IRS. The law is slow to catch the criminals who are stealing money from people, especially older folks. Shame to those who think it's fine and dandy to steal from people who cannot really afford to make such a mistake.
 
Interesting post BigRob.

Not understanding why what he did was wrong though (besides the IRS and postcards he mailed to people).

Transferring timeshares into LLC's and then putting them on eBay for sale. Sounds legit. What am I missing here?

The problem is this part of the allegation:

"After transferring the timeshare into one of these LLCs, the entity ceased to take any action to exercise the rights and responsibilities of ownership, such as paying annual fees or taxes. As some timeshare resorts began to recognize these LLCs, they refused to accept the transfer paperwork."

This means that they were not keeping the maintenance fees and taxes current, and in some cases the resorts, upon recognizing the LLC, refused to acknowledge the transfer, keeping the "former" owner on the hook for the maintenance fees and taxes, even though they thought they had properly executed deeds transferring the timeshare out of their name. Additionally, though not explicitly stated, is that even if the transfer was recognized by the resort, the fees and taxes not being paid meant that the eventually, the resort's HOA would have incurred collection costs, etc. that were likely unrecoverable if the LLC was then declared bankrupt.
 
Uri Fried posted at least once (and probably only once) on TUG (time stamp 09-29-2004 13:18).
I copied the whole thread into Word before the forum software was completely changed with all prior threads lost. Folks here might be interested in reading his post. The question I have (for a moderator) is it appropriate for me to re-post Uri's missive to TUG? If yes, should I include all the posts within the thread that preceded (and followed) his?

I think it would be interesting reading. Please do post it.
 
Okay I'm a little slow today. Would someone be kind enough to explain to me in simple terms what this guy did. Thanks.
 
I bought from him in 2008. At that time he was still one of the few ebay sellers that transferred the TS from the original owner into his own name and then transferred to the buyer. The advantage to that method is you didn't have to have a licensed broker or lawyer involved in the transaction. The downside was it required 2 closings instead of one and it put too much risk on the Frieds if it did not sell.
 
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