A Michigan couple was arrested in Mexico for allegedly defrauding a hospitality company, but their family said they were wrongfully charged.
Paul and Christy Akeo were imprisoned in Cancun, Mexico, on March 4, the family’s attorney John Manly told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. The couple was traveling for vacation at the time of their arrest.
The arrest stems from a dispute with timeshare company, The Palace Company. The Akeos allegedly signed a contract to buy a membership in 2021 and submitted a credit card for their monthly payments. The company, however, was notified the following year that Paul canceled nearly $117,000 in credit card transactions, prosecutors in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo said in a March 15 news release.
Christy allegedly “spread the word on Facebook about how they committed the fraud against the hotel chain,” the translated statement continued (the couple was en route to a different resort when they were arrested, per their lawyer, Manly).
Manly said the fraud allegation against the couple is “utterly false,” and that they had simply disputed the charges with American Express, which reviewed them and issued refunds, after Palace failed “to deliver services,” including canceling weeks they had booked without notice. The couple tried more than a dozen times to resolve the issues with Palace before disputing the charges.
American Express did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
The couple criticized the company on Facebook “and alerted others who felt wronged by Palace,” according to Manly. He accused Palace of demanding $250,000 dollars and that the couple sign a non-disclosure agreement, among other stipulations, in exchange for their release.
Manly said the Akeos are being held in a “maximum-security prison,” and that they had been “denied proper food and medical care” or adequate visitation with their Mexican lawyers.