April 4 (UPI) — A Michigan couple who were imprisoned in Mexico for about a month after they disputed charges related to a Mexican timeshare have returned to the United States.
Congressman Tom Barrett, R- Mich. posted to social media Thursday night that “Paul and Christy Akeo are coming home.”
Barrett flew to Cancun Wednesday to secure their release from the Cereso Cancun maximum-security prison where both were being held after reportedly being jailed for alleged credit card fraud and breach of a contract agreement, according to the Palace Resorts company.
The company shared documents with CBS News Detroit which alleged that “between 2016 and 2021, the Akeos knowingly and willingly entered into 19 separate membership agreements with [Palace Resorts], investing over $1.4 million in exchange for exclusive benefits and rates intended strictly for personal use.”
Palace Resorts claimed that the couple bought a timeshare membership with the company several years earlier and then filed a complaint with the Mexican public prosecutor.
The company further purported that the Akeos swindled it through $117,000 of chargebacks on their American Express card, in which American Express takes back funds from a vendor, and after it filed a complaint with the Mexican public prosecutor, the couple was arrested.
Lindsey Hull, daughter of Christy and stepdaughter of Paul had reached out for help via Facebook with a post in March that said the Akeos were being “held captive,” for ostensibly “challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company, aka Palace Resorts with American Express.”
Hull said that once American Express sided with the Akeos over the charges, the two were imprisoned and further alleged that Palace Resorts “is demanding $250,000, the signing of an NDA that does not even guarantee their release, as well as a Facebook post made by our parents to be left up for one week claiming all responsibility and fault for the torture they have endured throughout the last three weeks, and that the company purportedly “demanded a public apology from my mom and Paul to be made to” Palace Resorts.
Barrett posted to X Wednesday that he “met with them personally for an hour and learned of the horrific conditions they are facing, rubbled walls, overcrowded cells, toilets that don’t flush, and disgusting food.”
The Akeos were arrested after landing in Cancun, in the state of Quintana on March 4. The state attorney said the couple reached an agreement with the timeshare company for an undisclosed amount of money before a judge dismissed the case and ordered their release.
