Latest news with #PalaceCompany
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
Michigan Couple Returns to U.S. After Being Held in Mexico Prison for a Month Following Dispute with Timeshare Resort
A Michigan couple has returned to the U.S. after being held in a Mexico prison following a dispute with The Palace Company Paul and Christy Akeo have reportedly reached an agreement with the resorts company after it accused the pair of defrauding them of over $100,000 Congressman Tom Barrett, representing Michigan's 7th district, traveled to Mexico and shared a clip on X showing the couple boarding a plane to head back home on Thursday, April 3 A Michigan couple is now back in the U.S. after being held in a Mexican jail for a month following a dispute with a timeshare company. As previously reported by PEOPLE, Paul and Christy Akeo were held in a prison after being arrested while traveling to Cancún on March 4, the couple's daughter claimed in a March 24 Facebook post. In a previous statement, the Attorney General of Quintana Roo state alleged Christy had gone on Facebook to "spread the word" about having "committed fraud" against The Palace Company after her husband canceled 13 transactions totaling nearly $117,000. In a Thursday, April 3 statement, the Attorney General then said that the couple had reached an agreement with the resorts company, which had resulted in the pair's "immediate release" back to the U.S. The Palace Company confirmed in a statement that the parties had "agreed to a resolution of their dispute," noting that the $116,587.84 back-charged to the Akeos' American Express card would be "donated to a bona fide established nonprofit in Mexico benefiting orphan children." "Each party regrets that this incident occurred," the company wrote. Congressman Tom Barrett, representing Michigan's 7th district, shared a video on X showing the Akeos boarding a plane to return home, writing, "Paul and Christy Akeo are coming home. Mission accomplished." Paul and Christy Akeo are coming home. Mission accomplished. 🇺🇸 — Congressman Tom Barrett (@RepTomBarrett) April 4, 2025 The Akeos' law firm confirmed the couple, of Spring Arbor, had been "released from custody and [had] returned to Lansing, Michigan," per a statement obtained by PEOPLE. The couple have made it safely home, attorney Stu Mollrich confirmed to PEOPLE. "No American should be held hostage to the demands of a private company anywhere in the world," Christy's children Michael and Lindsey said in a statement through their lawyer. "Paul and Christy are under the care of physicians and therapists to be treated for illnesses and trauma inflicted upon them during their captivity," the children continued. "We ask that their privacy be respected as they rest and heal. The family will have much more to say about this ordeal in the coming days,' Mollrich told PEOPLE last month that his clients had a membership with Florida-based company Palace Elite Resorts — which has multiple locations in Mexico — and argued the company "breached their contact and failed to provide the goods and services they had been charged for." The Akeos had purchased a timeshare membership with Palace for $6,923 per month for a period of 11 years in 2021, Mollrich said, but after flagging the alleged breach to American Express, the couple had $116,587.84 kicked back to their card. Christy would later become moderator of a Facebook group full of former Palace guests disgruntled by the company's "heavy-handed and deceptive business practices," Mollrich said. In March, the couple traveled back to Cancún and were arrested upon arrival at the airport, the attorney noted. The Palace Company said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE on March 27 that criminal proceedings were underway against the Akeos "following a multi-year pattern of serious contractual violations and deliberate fraud during and after their membership in Palace Elite." Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Following the couple's release, the Akeo family said that Congressman Tom Barrett had traveled to Mexico "camped out at the prison and made it clear that he would not return home without them," per NBC News. After landing in Cancun this morning, I traveled directly to the maximum security prison where Paul and Christy Akeo are being held. I met with them personally for an hour and learned of the horrific conditions they are facing — rubbled walls, overcrowded cells, toilets that… — Congressman Tom Barrett (@RepTomBarrett) April 2, 2025 "Through four straight weeks of fear and uncertainty, Congressman Barrett's commitment to bringing our parents home safely provided us with hope and reassurance," the family added, according to the outlet, as well as thanking President Donald Trump and others "for working tirelessly" to make sure the Akeos were released. A PR firm representing The Palace Company and the Akeos' law firm didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Yahoo
Lawyer for Michigan couple held in Mexican prison says resort company is at fault
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A Michigan couple remains behind bars in a Mexican prison, accused of breaching a timeshare contract — but their lawyer said the resort that filed the criminal complaint against them breached the contract first. Paul and Christy Akeo have reportedly been charged with defrauding Palace Elite, a subsidiary of the Palace Company, out of more than $110,000. They signed a timeshare contract with the resort in Nov. 2021 to purchase a membership with the hotel, but are accused of breaching its terms by cancelling the charges, leading to their arrest at a Cancún airport on March 4. Their children, Lindsey Hull and Michael Lemke, have repeatedly denied these accusations, telling Nexstar's WLNS that American Express sided with the couple in the dispute. 'Every second of every day, we are concerned for their safety, especially with the lack of communication,' said Hull. 'The idea that they're sitting in a maximum-security prison over a time-share dispute at best is unacceptable.' Judge: High heat in Texas prisons unconstitutional John Manly, the family's attorney, provided some further insight into the situation, alleging that the Akeos did indeed sign up for a timeshare, but were taken advantage of. 'What happened was they got lured into this timeshare, and initially it was some reasonable amount a month, and then they, according to what we've been told, they took away their benefits and essentially made them increase their monthly contribution to $6,200 a month,' said Manly. According to Manly, it was the resort company that actually breached the contract. 'They were supposed to be able to sell weeks of their timeshare so people could use them, and that interests Palace because they get to sell to more people,' said Manly. 'What began to occur is Palace just began to cancel the reservations. So essentially, they're paying $6,200 a month for which anybody who's middle-class or retired is a lot of money, not allowing them to sell their weeks that they have promised and essentially defaulted or breached, rather, the contract.' Earlier this week, the Palace Company issued a statement which further alleged that the Akeos not only canceled their credit card payments 'fraudulently,' but 'encouraged' others to do so, as well. The company did not go into detail about its accusations. '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,' reads the statement. 'Mexican prosecutors reviewed the evidence and, following failed attempts to serve notice, obtained a court-approved arrest warrant. 'INTERPOL validated the case and issued a red notice, leading to the Akeos' detention at Cancún Airport on March 4, 2025. A judge has since ruled there is sufficient cause for the case to proceed to trial and ordered the preventive detention of the Akeos.' Former executive of Mars candy subsidiary charged with stealing $28 million from company The couple's son, Michael Lemke, told WLNS that a Mexican judge has given Palace Resorts six months to gather evidence. He's concerned this could mean that the Akeos might be detained in Mexico for a long time. 'The situation is incredibly unfortunate over something that is a contract dispute that we felt, I should say it seemed like was done and over with,' said Lemke. 'The big thing for us is just bringing them home.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
