When Deborah and Randy Longtin bought a one bedroom timeshare at the Friar Tuck resort, they went on vacations and cruises in the Caribbean.

"They had a nice restaurant and you could have lunch outside by the pool. But those days are over," Deborah said.

Today the flags still fly, but the parking lots and hotel are empty, the grounds deserted. No more pool parties or bocce ball games. Friar Tuck resort is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

"Here it is six years later and we're potentially going to lose everything we've invested," said Randy.

That's to the tune of over $16,000. The Longtins are gearing up for a fight.

"We have to do something we can't take this lying down. We have too much to lose, we have too much invested here," Deborah said.

A bankruptcy attorney said when the assets here being liquidated, people like Randy and Deborah might be able to get some money back. Or, there's a chance a new developer could buy it and try to reopen the resort.

A manager of the time share units blamed the problems on the poor economy. While timeshare units are technically open for now, the Longtin's want to join with other owners to fight for their money, before it's too late.

"There are thousands of other share holders that feel the same way. We have to fight. We can't give up. At least if we walk away with nothing, we know we tried," Deborah said.

A bankruptcy trustee, Mark Erhlich, told News Channel 13 that time share owners at Friar Tuck should contact the State Attorney General's office, and consider joining together in a class action lawsuit.

It has been brought to the attention of RDO [Resort Development Organisation] that a Singapore based company called United Wealth Management may be informing timeshare owners during presentations that the company is registered with RDO.

United Wealth Management is not associated with RDO in any way and is not authorised to act on its behalf. Members of the public should be on their guard if contacted by this company and are advised to take legal advice before parting with any money.

Timeshare owners who are asked to pay a sum of money to a company that promises to recuperate monies lost elsewhere - for example a deposit paid to a sales company that has closed down or a registration fee paid to a resale company - should be extremely wary as this frequently results in a further loss.

If you are told that the company is registered with RDO, check our website as it contains an up-to-date list of members, all of which sign up to a code of conduct. Go to www.rdo.org for further information.

A father-and-son duo bankrolled their lavish lifestyles with $170 million in investors' money, and when investors began to question their activities, they "responded with threats and intimidation," according to dozens of lawsuits filed in Federal Court.

Frederick Elliott and his son, Derek Elliott, sold timeshares in luxury vacation properties in the Dominican Republic, promising investors "steady and predictable double-digit returns" on allegedly "safe" investments, according to the lawsuit.

"In what has truly become a sad cliché, Frederick and Derek misused plaintiffs' hard-earned money to finance fanciful Hollywood productions, produce self promotional videos, purchase a half-a-million-dollar yacht, and pay off personal gambling debts in Las Vegas, among other things," the lawsuit states.

About 170 investors sued the Elliotts and their "complex web" of offshore companies and shell corporations that they created, uurportedly to escape liability. They treated these entities "as one collective 'piggy bank,' taking funds from one company indiscriminately to pay the obligations of another," the lawsuits state.

The Elliotts chose to base their scam in Miami, investors say, because "Miami offered a sophisticated banking system with access to international financial markets, and willing bilingual professionals to assist them in their illegal pursuits."

Frederick and Derek found most of their victims through presentations on cruise ships, where they were invited to speak, investors claim.

The Elliotts allegedly sold timeshares in resort properties that weren't finished, including a hotel in Juan Dolia, and then rented them out through travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity. Timeshare owners were supposed to get a cut of the rent, but in typical Ponzi fashion, the Elliotts used money from new investors to pay the original timeshare purchasers, investors claim.

They also accuse the father-son team of laundering money through WWIN, a "pseudo-banking entity" that the Elliotts created "to comingle both the proceeds of its illicit activities with other legitimate payments," according to the lawsuits.

Investors say WWIN paid Victor Cabral, the ex-tourism minister of the Dominican Republic, more than $114,000 "off the books" for his consulting services. Cabral has been sentenced to one year in prison for fraud, according to the complaints.

Investors accuse the Elliotts and their companies of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, civil conspiracy and breach of contract, among other claims.

Attorney General Bill McCollum announced a $27 million Medicaid fraud settlement and three separate lawsuits against timeshare resale companies on Wednesday.

The fraud settlement is against the Teva Pharmaceutical company, which McCollum said inflated the drug prices it reports to the government health care program. By pumping up its costs, he said, Teva reaped millions in excess reimbursements.

"They ripped off the Medicaid system," he said.

Here's how the settlement will be broken down: $7.1 million for Florida's Medicaid agency, $3.5 million to the state's general treasury and $387,000 for a fund that rewards Medicaid fraud tipsters. The balance will be paid to the federal government.

McCollum also announced lawsuits against three timeshare resale companies, which were largest source of complaints the attorney general's office received this year. The suits allege the companies — Timeshares Direct Inc., doing business as Timeshares By Owner, in Orlando, Gold Crown Property Management Inc., in Clearwater and International Marketing and Finance Group, Inc., in Palm Beach — falsely promised timeshare owners that they had buyers lined up for their properties.

Economic Crimes director Mary Leontakianakos noted a "new scam" where timeshare companies falsely claim they have the attorney general's endorsement.

"That really concerns me from a consumer protection standpoint," she said.

An Ormond Beach-based timeshare sales office was raided by state investigators last Wednesday.

Investigators from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services served a search warrant to Buy Owner Resort Marketing. Details about the investigation are not yet available as of press time, because the investigation is ongoing, said Liz Compton, a spokesperson from the agency.

Regulators ordered the company’s telemarketing arm to stop operations last March, because it was not registered. However, whether this was related to the warrant is still unconfirmed.