Michigan couple held in Mexico jail for a month after timeshare dispute is back in U.S.

A Michigan couple who were jailed in Mexico for almost a month after they disputed charges related to a Mexican timeshare has returned to the United States, their lawyers said Thursday.

Christy and Paul Akeo, of Spring Arbor, “have been released from custody and have returned to Lansing, Michigan,” their law firm said in a statement.

The State Attorney of Quintana Roo said the couple reached a settlement with the the timeshare company for an amount of money that it did not disclose. A judge then dismissed the criminal case and ordered their release, the prosecutor’s office said.

The Akeos family has said they were the victims of “a kidnapping and extortion attempt” by a Mexican timeshare company.

Palace Elite Resorts, a Mexican hospitality company, previously said that the couple defrauded it through $117,000 of chargebacks on their American Express card, in which American Express takes back funds from a vendor. 

The couple bought a timeshare membership with the company several years earlier, Palace Elite Resorts said.

The company said that it filed a complaint with the Mexican public prosecutor, which then led to the arrests of the Akeos.

The couple denies the allegations, and their law firm on Thursday said that they were “held captive for 32 days in Cereso Cancun prison.”

John Manly, an attorney for the Akeos, previously 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.