Michigan grandparents detained in Mexico over timeshare dispute

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

By Sarah Fitzpatrick

A Michigan couple's family says they have been detained in a prison in Mexico for nearly three weeks over "a kidnapping and extortion attempt" stemming from a contract dispute related to a timeshare.

On March 4, Christy and Paul Akeo, of Spring Arbor, landed in Cancun for a long-planned vacation. Paul, 58, a Navy veteran submariner who now works as an engineer for the Michigan State Police, and Christy, 60, a retired small-business owner, spend much of their time caring for their grandchildren and were looking for a break from the Midwestern winter weather.

Lindsey Lemke Hull said that shortly after they arrived in Mexico, she got a panicked call from her stepfather: The couple had been detained at immigration and told they were being arrested on fraud charges.

Christy and Paul Akeo.Courtesy Lindsey Lemke Hull

Palace Elite Resorts, a Mexican hospitality company, told NBC News in a statement that it filed a complaint with the Mexican public prosecutor, which then led to the arrests of the Akeos. Paul and Christy Akeo had bought a timeshare membership with the company several years earlier, and the company alleges they defrauded it through $117,000 of chargebacks on their American Express card, in which American Express takes back funds from a vendor.

The couple, through their lawyer and family, deny the fraud allegations.

Hull said her parents traveled to Mexico unaware that there was a warrant for their arrest.

"I couldn't comprehend what was happening," Hull said. She said the experience, just a few weeks after she gave birth to her second daughter, is "like a horror movie."

"Our parents were supposed to come home from vacation three weeks ago," she said. "Instead, they were kidnapped and being held for ransom in a foreign country."

Since their detainment, the Akeos are being held at Prison Cereso Cancun in Quintana Roo, Mexico, according to the family and their attorney. Hull and her brother have been able to speak to their parents only via short telephone calls. They said that their parents had not received appropriate food or medical care and that Christy Akeo has lost more than 20 pounds in prison. Both parents have medical conditions that require medications, the children and their attorney said, and without access to her medications, Christy is having serious allergic reactions.

The Mexican State Attorney's office did not respond to detailed questions about the conditions. The Mexican Consulate did not respond to questions.

A local judge ordered them to remain in custody and ordered six more months for the parties to collect evidence before the next court date.

The children say they fear for their parents' lives as the days go by without action.

The day after they were arrested, Lindsey and her brother Mike Lemke spoke with a consular official at the U.S. Consulate in Cancun. They said that was the first indication that things may not be above-board. The American consular official told Lemke that the office had heard from a contact in the State's Attorney Office that a private company, The Palace Company, was looking to "settle" financially, the family said. The Palace Company is the Mexican resort corporation their parents bought a timeshare membership through several years ago.

In recent days, the Akeos' lawyers said, Palace offered a "settlement" if the couple paid $250,000, signed a non-disclosure agreement, helped take down a Facebook group related to Palace Resorts that Christy Akeo had participated in and publicly apologized. The family declined and called the settlement offer an extortion attempt, they said.

Palace attorneys reiterated their settlement offer Wednesday afternoon, the family said via their lawyer.

Palace said in a statement that it is operating within "strict compliance with the law." It did not respond to additional questions about the settlement offer.

The family said theyreported the offer to the State Department's special envoy for hostage affairs but that they have not yet received a response.

The State Department said that it was aware of the case and that it takes "our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad seriously" but that it would not comment further because of privacy concerns.

"The Department of State continuously monitors the circumstances surrounding the detentions of U.S. citizens overseas, including those in Mexico, for indicators that the detentions may be wrongful. When making these assessments, the Department looks at the totality of the circumstances and makes determinations for each case individually," it said.

Palace said in a statement that it "warns that the conduct of the Akeos appears to be criminal and exercises its right to report it to the investigating authority."The company acknowledged its role in initiating negotiations while the couple are in prison. It said that the nature of the Mexican legal system is restorative justice to repair damage rather than to punish the offender and that it allows parties to negotiate resolutions outside court.

"Palace is fully open to opting for this alternative solution, stating that the Akeos' legal team has sent us a request in this regard," it said in a statement. "We are currently in discussions to reach an agreement through which the cessation of the illicit conduct and the compensation for damages can be guaranteed."

In 2021, the Akeos bought a timeshare membership package from Palace Elite Resorts for $6,923 per month for 11 years, the family's lawyer said. The monthly fee was charged to an American Express card.

NBC News has reviewed a copy of the timeshare agreement provided by the family, although it is unclear whether it is the final agreement. American Express did not provide any documentation about the bills or the information shared with NBC News, citing privacy concerns.

Within months of the Akeos' having purchased the membership package, Palace and Akeos were at odds. Christy wrote on Facebook that Palace accused her of wrongfully posting photos "to profit off the resort" and canceled stays racked up through a referral program. The complaint says Paul then successfully disputed nearly $117,000 in American Express charges tied to their membership. The family's lawyer said Palace "failed to provide the goods and services."

In 2022, American Express investigated the dispute and refunded them the full amount. It initiated "chargebacks," in which it took back the money it had originally paid to the vendor, according to the initial complaint filed by the Mexican state attorney's office, as well as a statement The Palace Company provided to NBC News.

American Express did not respond to detailed questions about the case, only saying it was looking into the situation.

John Manly, an attorney for the Akeos, called the fraud charges "utterly false."

"The Akeos are being held because they successfully disputed Palace's charges and failure to deliver services with American Express, criticized the company online and alerted others who felt wronged by Palace," he said.

Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., said Monday that he was working to aid the couple in Mexico.

"I have spoken to their family and assured them that my team and I took immediate action and are doing everything we can to help. 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 on X.

Now, they're asking for the president to step in.

"The family requests the immediate assistance of President Donald J. Trump as they believe he is their only hope," Manly, the attorney, told NBC News.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Amy Forner, who identified herself as the creator and moderator of the Facebook group "Palace Members- DISAPPOINTED & FRUSTRATED," said that Christy was at one point an administrator of the group but that she at no point controlled the group.

She said she deleted the group after Hull, Christy's daughter, asked her late last week in hope it would help expedite their release from prison. "I am truly worried that this could turn to a wrongful death issue if they remain in jail," Forner said.

Forner said in an interview that Facebook did not at any point reach out to her about the group or at any point suspend the group or flag it. "Absolutely nothing. Which was a huge indicator for me that we weren't doing anything wrong." Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Forner shared screenshots of text messages she received that she believes, but does not know for sure, were sent to her by people connected to Palace Resorts, which she perceived as "menacing" and "intimidation" for her role in the Facebook group. Forner said that she reported the communications to the FBI and to local law enforcement last fall and that the FBI provided instructions on how best to report her experiences to the FBI.

The FBI declined to comment. The Palace Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hull, the Akeos' daughter, said she is haunted by the last texts she was able to exchange with her mother, in which she told her daughter: "I'm scared. Please Help us."

She said her family will not stop speaking out in hope it helps get her parents released from prison.

"I don't think they had any idea that my brother and I were going to be relentless about this," she said. "I'm assuming they thought we were going to be scared, and we are for our parents. I'm not scared of them."