This story has been updated to add a comment from The Palace Company.
LANSING — A Michigan couple is being held in a prison in Mexico following a credit card dispute with a resort company, the couple’s family said.
Christy and Paul Akeo were arrested on March 4 after getting off a plane at an airport in Cancun. They’ve been denied bail and their family is concerned about their health, Lindsey Hull wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.
“My mom has lost 25 lbs. in 20 days due to inability to eat as the prison is serving her food they are aware she is allergic to,” Hull wrote. “She also has a severe rash all over her body they refuse to treat. These are all concerns that have been brought up numerous times to the US Consulate over the last 3 weeks, yet they failed to have any sort of visit with my parents until 17 DAYS into their imprisonment.”
Hull added that the family has spoken with Christy Akeo but has not been able to communicate with Paul Akeo, despite numerous attempts. Paul Akeo is a Navy veteran who currently works as a civilian employee with the Michigan State Police. The Akeos have ties to the Lansing area.
“We have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars towards Mexican legal representation, but unfortunately that only goes so far when dealing with this level of corruption and extortion,” Hull wrote in her post. “We have also met prior demands given to us by The Palace Company and yet they have had no serious response to letting our parents free.”
Hull wrote that the arrests are “a direct result of my parents simply challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company, aka Palace Resorts.” She added that American Express sided with her parents in the dispute.
The family said the dispute relates to the Akeos challenging more than $100,000 in wrongful credit card charges for stays that the resort canceled.
“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,” Hull wrote. “If that’s not enough, they also demanded a public apology from my mom and Paul to be made to The Palace Company. Absolutely sickening.”
On Wednesday, after this story published, The Palace Company sent a statement through a spokesperson.
“The Palace Company subsidiary, Palace Elite, filed a criminal complaint with Mexican authorities after Paul and Christy Akeo fraudulently disputed legitimate credit card charges and publicly encouraged others to do the same,” the statement read. “Mexican prosecutors reviewed the evidence and, following failed attempts to serve notice, obtained a court-approved arrest warrant. … A judge has since ruled there is sufficient cause for the case to proceed to trial and ordered the preventive detention of the Akeos.”
John Manly, an attorney for the Akeos, said the couple didn’t know there was an arrest warrant for them.
Manly said that out of concern for their safety, the family tried to negotiate with The Palace Company and officials in Mexico for the Akeos’ release. He added the family has reached the point of having no option but to ask for help. That included contacting the offices of Michigan Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters last week, but Manly was critical of both senators’ response and assistance.
“If your family is in trouble, don’t call those two,” he said. ” … They’ve been zero help.”
Peters’ office declined to comment because it does not publicly discuss ongoing casework matters for the safety and privacy of constituents.
Messages were left seeking comment from Slotkin’s offices in Washington D.C. and Lansing.
Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, said in a Facebook post that he learned about the situation on Monday.
“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,” he wrote in the post. “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.”
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at mjmencarini@lsj.com.
