Grim moment American couples break to Cancun timeshare ended in disaster

The moment that an American couples dream vacation in Cancún ended in tragedy was caught on camera, as they were arrested by police on fraud charges.

Footage released by the Quintana Roo State Attorney General’s Office showed Paul and Christy Akeo flanked by two police officers and another law enforcement official after they had stepped off a flight from Michigan at Cancún International Airport on March 4.

The couple is accused of defrauding The Palace Company hotel chain out of more than $100,000.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office told DailyMail.com that Paul and Christy have been placed in pretrial detention for six months while prosecutors investigate. 

They did not say when the couple is due in court.

According to Christy’s daughter, Lindsey Hull, the couple challenged at least 13 wrongful credit card charges that were made by The Palace Company, also known as Palace Resorts, back in 2021.

The last 21 days of torture my parents have been through is a direct response of The Palace Company’s corruption, extortion, retaliation and blackmail against our parents, Hull wrote in a Facebook post.

Hull insisted that American Express sided with her mother and stepfather when they flagged their concerns in 2022, and that the allegations leveled against her family in Mexican media reports are false.

A video showed Paul and Christy Akeo being escorted by police at Cancún International Airport on March 4, moments after they were arrested as they walked out of a flight from Michigan

The couple has argued that The Palace Company hotel chain wrongly charged their American Express card and the card company has sided with their claims, which were first made in 2022

The Palace Company is allegedly 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 said. 

Hull added that her mother and stepfather are living in hell inside a maximum-security prison.

Despite asking numerous times to speak to Paul, we have yet to have ANY communication with him, she said.

Lindsey said her mother has shed 25 pounds in prison in just 20 days because authorities continue to offer food they know she is allergic to, and that she has developed a severe rash all over her body.

We have spent thousands of dollars towards Mexican legal representation, but unfortunately that only goes so far when dealing with this level of corruption and extortion, she said.

Hulls stepfather is a United States Navy Chief Petty Officer, who has served the United States for 21 years.

Christy and Paul Akeo were placed in pretrial detention for six months by a judge in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo

Paul and Christy Akeo were taken into custody after stepping out of an airplane at Cancún International Airport on March 4

The duo allegedly bought membership rights with the hotel chain which guaranteed them preferential rates, but by the end of 2022 had lodged 13 disputes with AMEX about charges Palace Resorts had placed on their card. Pictured: Moon Palace in Cancun, one of the resorts linked to Palace

Hull appealed to American officials to intervene to bring her family home and had tagged Donald Trump in posts sharing her parents plight.

There are entire Reddit threads and Facebook groups dedicated to falling victim to the timeshare offer that the Akeos had allegedly signed up for.

One such Facebook group was removed by Hull after she claims to have received reassurances that it would help her parents case.