Michigan couple released after nearly a month in Mexican prison over payment dispute with timeshare company

By Nicki Brown and Polo Sandoval, CNN

(CNN) — A Michigan couple was released Thursday after spending nearly a month in a Mexican prison over a payment dispute with a timeshare company, according to Michael Gordon, a spokesperson for Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett’s office.

Paul Akeo, a 58-year-old Navy veteran, and his wife Christy, 60, were taken into custody shortly after their plane landed in Cancun on March 4, according to their family.

Prosecutors in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located, had accused the Akeos of defrauding a hospitality company. The couple was released and their criminal charges were dismissed after they reached a reparation agreement with the company, prosecutors said in a statement Thursday.

As part of the agreement, the couple agreed to pay for damages which would then be distributed to three non-profit organizations, according to prosecutors.

The case stems from a 2021 timeshare agreement between the Akeos and Palace Elite, a subsidiary of The Palace Company, John Manly, an attorney for the Akeo family, previously told CNN.

The couple’s family has said the allegations against them are false. Through their attorneys, the Akeos say they successfully disputed charges with their credit card from a resort company they claim breached their contract by failing to provide services.

The couple arrived back in the US overnight Thursday, according to video from CNN affiliate WILX.

“We had no access to phones, internet,” Paul Akeo said of conditions inside the prison where they were held. The couple, speaking after they arrived in the US, added they were even cut off from each other for roughly a week.

“They told you what to do and when to do it,” Christy Akeo said, noting the difficulty they had overcoming the language barrier when they needed to ask Mexican authorities for help.

Both emphasized their gratitude for the outpouring of support from US officials. “I don’t even know how we’re going to repay or thank people,” Christy said.

Earlier the couple’s attorney thanked Congressman Barrett, calling him a “hero in my book,” as well as Special Envoy Adam Boehler and President Donald Trump.

“President Trump, I know he personally got involved with this and wanted them home, so I give him a lot of credit,” Manly said to CNN Thursday night. “No American should have to endure what these people have endured. But for these three men, I think they’d still be sitting there.”

In a statement, Lindsey Hull and Michael Lemke thanked government officials for helping to secure their parents’ release, specifically highlighting Rep. Barrett’s commitment.

“He traveled to Cancun at great personal risk, camped out at the prison and made it clear that he would not return home without them,” they said in the Thursday statement. “His heroic efforts as a veteran represent the finest traditions of our nation’s military to never leave an American behind.”

“No American should be held hostage to the demands of a private company anywhere in the world,” they said.

Hull and Lemke added that their parents will be treated for “illnesses and trauma inflicted upon them during their captivity.”

In a Thursday statement, a spokesperson for The Palace Company also thanked Trump, Barrett and Boehler for their mediation efforts.

“The Palace Company and the Akeos agree that $116,587.84, the amount that was contested by the Akeos and refunded to them by American Express, will be donated to a bona fide established nonprofit in Mexico benefiting orphan children,” the spokesperson said. “Each party regrets that this incident occurred.”

Manly told CNN in a March statement that the couple was being “held captive in a hell hole of a Mexican maximum-security prison.”

Barrett decried the prison’s “horrific conditions” on X after he visited the couple there on Wednesday.

Hull previously told CNN she was concerned about her parents’ health in prison.

“Their lives are in danger. Their health is declining. We need to get these people home,” Hull said, referring to her parents. “We just don’t have another option. They’re not going to be sitting in prison indefinitely.”

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the couple’s release. A State Department spokesperson previously told CNN it’s “aware of reports of the detention of two U.S. citizens in Mexico” but declined to offer specifics.

Hull said last month her parents were taken into custody and told arrest warrants had been issued for them in Mexico after a criminal complaint was filed by The Palace Company alleging fraud.

“We’re assuming it has something to do with the timeshare with Palace Resorts,” she recalled her stepfather telling her in a call the day her parents were arrested.

How the case unfolded

Prosecutors in Mexico alleged in a March 15 statement that in 2022, the Akeos canceled 13 credit card payments to a hotel chain totaling more than $116,500. Prosecutors did not elaborate on possible evidence but said the activity constitutes fraud.

Through their attorneys, the Akeos say Palace failed to provide promised services a few months into their timeshare contract. The couple then filed a complaint with their credit card company seeking a refund of nearly $117,000 in Palace payments.

The couple argued the resort company breached their contract. Manly said in a statement last week the Akeos were held “because they successfully disputed Palace’ (sic) charges and failure to deliver services with American Express, criticized the Company on Facebook and alerted others who felt wronged by Palace.”

Manly added the company was retaliating against the couple for challenging the charges.

A spokesperson for The Palace Company and attorneys for the Akeos both provided CNN with documentation showing an extended dispute about the couple’s use of membership benefits and what could be considered breaches of contract.

The Palace spokesperson told CNN in statements last week that they filed a complaint with Mexican authorities in August 2023 after the Akeos “fraudulently disputed legitimate credit card charges and publicly encouraged others to do the same.”

“The Akeos began disputing their membership charges with their credit card companies,” Palace said in a statement last week. “These disputes – despite relating to services they had actively used – were granted,” the company said in a statement.

Palace claims the couple later took to Facebook and “bragged about these chargebacks and encouraged others to follow suit.”

Last September, attorneys for Palace sent a cease-and-desist letter to Christy Akeo claiming that her Facebook posts were unlawful because she had instructed members on how to end their agreements “using illegal and fraudulent means,” according to a copy of the letter the company provided to CNN.

Separately, in announcing the fraud charges last month, Mexican prosecutors pointed to social media posts, alleging Christy Akeo used them “to inform how said fraud was committed against the hotel chain.”

Palace previously said it also filed a related civil suit seeking financial damages and that “all of its actions are in full accordance with Mexican law.”

“The bottom line is this is a civil dispute which can be easily litigated,” Manly told CNN in a Friday statement. “Palace has no right to force a settlement by having the Akeos arrested and thrown into a dangerous Mexican prison.”

Hull previously told CNN her family received no notice of criminal charges that she is aware of and said her mother did take to social media to share her negative experience with fellow Palace patrons. However, she’s baffled at why social media activity may have contributed to the arrest.

“My mom was very clear about that in this Facebook group where people were seeking information on what to do when you get in these memberships,” Hull said. “If there’s 8,000 people dealing with the same thing, and the same disappointments with Palace Resorts, and how they treat their members, maybe you should look in the mirror and make a change.”

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