A couple from Michigan is detained in a Mexican prison due to a credit card dispute with their timeshare. Christy and Paul Akeo's vacation turned sour on March 4 when the cops arrested them on outstanding criminal fraud charges. For the past 23 days, the authorities have denied the couple bail as they've been imprisoned.
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Timeshare Holds Couple "Hostage" For Weeks In Mexican Prison
Now, Christy's daughter Lindsey Hull has spoken up on
Facebook about the horrifying incident. She claimed that the arrest was due to her "parents simply challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company." Owned by Palace Resorts, these are luxurious vacation resorts across Mexico and Jamaica.Around three years ago, Akeos disputed charges of $117,000 from their timeshare resort on their American Express credit card. American Express sided with the couple after challenges the charges for months. Since then, the couple got their money back, and they cancelled their membership, according to the New York Post.
The Akeos have returned to Cancun many times since then. Only now has the resort company demanded money while also detaining the couple after they arrived at the Cancun airport.
"The Palace Company 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 1 week claiming all responsibility and fault for the torture they have endured throughout the last 3 weeks," the daughter wrote.
They have allegedly demanded a public apology, which Hull described as "absolutely sickening." She also claimed that Mexican news articles were "aiming to defame and slander" her parents.
Not only that, but Hull is mostly worried about her parents' health. The couple is allegedly "being denied medical attention, denied proper communication and publicly defamed." Her mother's health seems to be mostly affected. She has apparently lost 25 lbs within the span of 20 days "due to inability to eat as the prison is serving her food they are aware she is allergic to."
Attorney Gives Possible Motive To Couple's Detainment
John Manly, the family's attorney, is just as angry as Hull is. "Make no mistake, what they're doing is they are holding two Americans hostage because they want them to pay them money," he said to CBS News.
The attorney explained that Palace Resorts hasn't been any help in the matter, and he may know the exact motives. "I think they realized that their daughter, who was one of Larry Nassar's victims, who was horribly abused by him, got a very large settlement, and I think they are after the settlement," Manly said.
Nassar was the former US women's national gymnastics team doctor and confessed to the abuse and assault of multiple children. It's sickening to think that this company could be trying to blackmail a victim of abuse for money.
Manly then revealed that in the last court hearing, Mexican courts denied the Akeo's house arrest request. They also gave Palace Resorts six months to gather evidence. "This was intentional, it was knowing, it was calculated," said Manly. "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."
