A Michigan couple’s spring break vacation quickly turned into a nightmare when they were hauled away to a maximum-security prison for allegedly disputing credit card charges at a resort after touching down in Mexico.
Grandparents Christy and Paul Akeo arrived at an airport in Cancun on March 4 when they realized that their passports had a notice placed on them as they went through customs, Christy’s daughter, Lindsey Hull, wrote on Facebook Monday.
The couple was arrested on outstanding criminal fraud charges and have been held without bond in a foreign prison for the past 23 days.
Hull claimed that her mother and stepfather were arrested in “retaliation” for challenging charges made on their American Express credit card by The Palace Company, a luxury, all-inclusive vacation brand with resorts in Mexico and Jamaica owned by Palace Resorts.
The couple had a timeshare membership with the vacation company and disputed charges totaling $117,000 from Palace Resorts on their credit card around three years ago.
After months of dealing with challenging the charges, American Express sided with the couple, the money was returned to the Akeos, and their membership with The Palace Company was canceled.
Since the incident, the Akeos have returned to Cancun multiple times over the past few years and have never run into trouble until recently.
“The last 21 days of torture my parents have been through is a direct response of The Palace Company’s corruption, extortion, retaliation and blackmail against our parents,” Hull wrote.
She claims that the company is “demanding” $250,000 and for them to sign a nondisclosure agreement “that does not even guarantee their release.”
“If that’s not enough, they also demanded a public apology from my mom and Paul to be made to The Palace Company. Absolutely sickening,” the concerned daughter wrote.
The lawyer who represented the Akeos in the dispute against Palace Resorts, John Manly, said the case was closed and the couple is being held “hostage.”
“Make no mistake, what they’re doing is they are holding two Americans hostage because they want them to pay them money,” Manly told CBS News.
Hull also alleged that her mom and Paul — who is a US Navy Veteran with over 21 years of service and currently works for the Michigan State Police — are “being denied medical attention, denied proper communication and publicly defamed.”
“My mom has lost 25 lbs. in 20 days due to inability to eat as the prison is serving her food they are aware she is allergic to,” She wrote. “She also has a severe rash all over her body they refuse to treat.”
Hull also revealed that she had spoken to Paul once in the last three weeks, but no one has contacted him since then.
The couple has already appeared in court in Mexico over the charges.
Manly told CBS News that a Mexican court granted the Palace Resort an additional six months to gather evidence.
The judge also denied Akeo’s request to be put on house arrest and ordered them to remain in jail until then.
“This was intentional, it was knowing, it was calculated, and it was designed to extort them and to punish them for speaking out about what they felt was aggressive, wrongful, and illegal tactics by Palace Resorts,” said Manly.
Hull said she has pleaded for help from the American embassy in Mexico and other federal and state agencies, including the FBI and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Office.
US Rep. Tom Barrett, who represents Michigan’s 7th District, posted on X Monday that he has spoken to the couple’s family and has been working on getting them released.
“I have been in contact and will continue working with the White House, State Department, and law enforcement partners in Michigan to ensure this situation is resolved as urgently and safely as possible,” he wrote.
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