Michigan Couple Being 'Held Captive' in Mexico Prison Following Alleged Dispute with Resort, Family Claims

• A Michigan couple is reportedly being "held captive" in a Mexico jail amid an alleged dispute with a timeshare company, the family has claimed
• Paul and Christy Akeo were arrested after traveling to Cancún, with customs officials reportedly saying the couple had "outstanding charges of criminal fraud," per KTVI
• The couple's daughter Lindsey Lemke Hull alleged on Facebook that her stepdad and mom's arrest "is a direct result of my parents simply challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company"
  

A Michigan couple is reportedly being held in custody in Mexico over an alleged dispute with a timeshare company, their family has alleged.

On Monday, March 24, Lindsey Lemke Hull shared a statement on Facebook claiming that her stepdad and mom, Paul and Christy Akeo, were being "held without bail in a maximum-security Mexican prison" after being arrested while traveling to Cancún on March 4.

Lindsey is alleging that the arrest stems from her parents "challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company, aka Palace Resorts," saying the couple is "being held captive."

Stu Mollrich, an attorney representing the Akeos, told PEOPLE the couple 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.

Lindsey's brother, Michael, told CBS News, "This is completely crazy to us because, again, this was over and done with, nothing that should have even escalated to this." Michael claimed his parents were "able to prove" the resort had "breached their contract."

The couple are now being "held captive" at the Cereso Cancún prison, Mollrich notes.

In a statement, the Attorney General of Quintana Roo state alleged Christy had gone on Facebook to "spread the word" about having "committed fraud" against Palace after her husband canceled 13 transactions totaling nearly $117,000.

The AG accuses the couple of committing fraud, noting a judge opted to jail them pretrial for six months as the proceedings take place so the company can gather evidence. No trial date has been set.

Mollrich accused the company of demanding $250,000 in exchange for release or favorable legal treatment. In her Facebook post, Lindsey alleged the company was trying to force the Akeos to sign a non-disclosure agreement and put up a post on Facebook "claiming all responsibility and fault for the torture they have endured."

The company is also demanding a "public apology" from the Akeos, the daughter claimed.

Lindsey alleged in her Facebook post that her mom wasn't able to eat the food in prison because of her allergies and said she had a "severe rash all over her body" which hasn't been treated, per the post.

"We need help from our government," Lindsey told KTVI. "We need them to realize that there are two innocent Americans being held hostage in a Mexican prison over a timeshare dispute and by them not acting [or] doing anything about it, they are allowing Mexico to do that."

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Congressman Tom Barrett, representing Michigan's 7th district, said in a statement that he's aware of the case. "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 added, according to CBS News.

The Palace Company didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.