A few days ago, I first wrote about a bizarre story, whereby an American couple is being jailed in Mexico over a dispute with a resort company. The couple claims that they’ve been jailed over a legitimate credit card dispute, while the company claims the couple committed fraud.
Some more details have emerged about what happened, and while there are still conflicting claims, I think we have a better picture of the reality. Honestly, I’m not really sure what to think. The timeshare and resort vacation package business is one of the more predatory and unethical out there. At the same time, this couple seems far from innocent.
In this post:
Michigan couple jailed in Cancun over resort dispute
An American couple from Michigan has been jailed in Mexico since March 4, 2025. They were arrested at Cancun International Airport (CUN), upon arriving in the country. They had vacationed in Mexico a countless number of times, and were obviously caught off guard by this kind of a “welcome.”
This dispute involves Palace Resorts, a resort and timeshare company based in Florida. The disagreement with the parties has actually been taking place for years. The first thing to understand is that the pair weren’t just casual members who got sold on a timeshare once.
As of a few years ago, the couple had $1.4 million worth of memberships, with over $500K already paid in. They had signed 19 different membership agreements. The wife reportedly vacationed in Mexico every month, to escape the cold weather in Michigan.
According to what the wife shared on social media in the past, Palace Resorts became angry at the couple when they started using photos that they took to promote Palace Resorts properties in various Facebook groups (let me note that this claim seems totally outlandish, but I’m just sharing the details as presented).
Palace Resorts reportedly claimed that the couple were stealing intellectual property, and as a result, the company started canceling all of the vacation reservations that the couple had, including access to the company’s lucrative referral program.
The contracts with Palace Resorts are one-sided, and the contract reportedly allows the company to make changes to benefits without notice. However, the couple’s lawyer said that canceling reservations was a breach of contract, and this gave the couple an “out.”
As a result, the couple started disputing charges from the resort on their American Express cards. Specifically, the couple disputed 13 different credit card transactions, totaling over $116K. The credit card issuer took the couple’s side with this dispute.
Ultimately, the Mexican government viewed this as fraud, and this caused the couple to be arrested. The resort is now demanding $250K and a public apology in order for the couple to be released. That apology should come in the form of a Facebook post that’s left up for at least a week, claiming all responsibility for what happened. They also demanded an NDA be signed.
It’s worth noting that the husband is a police officer and veteran. The daughter of the couple (who is kind of the Facebook spokesperson for all of this) points out how this is no way to treat a veteran. With the wife not working, one certainly wonders how this couple had $1.4 million to invest on vacation packages, but that’s a different story…
Below is a video with a decent summary of the claims made by the couple.
Mexico claims couple defrauded resort of $100K+
What’s the other side to this story? Officials in Mexico have charged the couple with defrauding Palace Resorts, and both were wanted by Interpol. So they were arrested upon arrival in Mexico because their names triggered an alert when they attempted to enter the country.
According to Palace Resorts, between 2016 and 2021, the couple willingly entered into 19 separate membership agreements with the company, worth around $1.4 million, in exchange for benefits and rates intended exclusively for personal use.
However, in 2021, the company found the couple to be in “material breach” of the agreement, as the couple promoted and profited from their benefits on social media, which the company claims is strictly prohibited under the terms of the contract.
Among other things, the wife seemed to basically be a reseller of Palace Resorts stays, and you can see many of her Facebook posts around 1min40sec and 2min15sec into the below video.
In April 2022, the company notified the couple that they had violated the agreement, and the couple had to sign a waiver acknowledging that they would refrain from posting any future comments about the company. They signed this, claiming they were being extorted, but then continued to post about the company.
Not only did the couple file credit card disputes for their own stays, but the wife then went onto Facebook groups for Palace Resorts members, and encouraged others to similarly file credit card disputes, and to claim fraud. She even bragged about having “helped thousands of members” dispute their charges for memberships.”
While the couple has claimed they’ve done nothing wrong, the couple’s lawyer has taken a different stance. He basically doesn’t address the nature of the allegations, but instead focuses on how this is a civil matter rather than a criminal one. He argues that “last time I looked, we had the First Amendment, we had free speech” (in Mexico?) and:
“This is just a bunch of lies and I think what the documents illustrate is this is a civil dispute. We don’t put people in prison in this country or in Mexico for breach of contract. This is a timeshare, not a crime share.”
I’m not sure what to make of this situation?
I find the timeshare business to be highly unethical and predatory, and I think that 99 out of 100 times, I’d assume that in a dispute, the timeshare company is the one that’s out of line.
That being said, it seems pretty clear to me that the couple isn’t innocent either. They didn’t just casually buy a timeshare. Instead, they purchased 19 different ones, and the wife seemingly turned this into her full time gig, based on the amount of time she spent in Facebook groups discussing this.
In a foreshadowing that almost seems like it’s out of The White Lotus, at the same time that these charges were being disputed, the wife posted the below quote on her Facebook page, about how you should travel while you’re able to, and “don’t worry about the money, just make it work.”
Now, should this be a civil case rather than a criminal case? I’m not a legal expert, but typically it seems like that’s how it would go.
That being said, this also seems like a case of “FAFO” (f*** around and find out). Laws are different in Mexico than in the United States, and if you have a company actively suing you over breach of contract, maybe don’t keep going back to that country to vacation, where laws are different? First Amendment and free speech laws don’t apply to Mexico!
I will say, of course I still feel bad for the couple being in jail for weeks. I imagine they never thought this situation would end like that. But they’re also clearly not really innocent here.
Bottom line
An American couple has been jailed in Mexico for weeks, after they were arrested upon arrival. The couple claims to have simply disputed fraudulent charges from a timeshare company, and states that American Express sided with them. Meanwhile the Mexican government claims that the couple defrauded the resort, and the wife even bragged about the fraud on Facebook.
What do you make of this strange situation?
It sounds fully plausible that they defrauded Amex with false info to “win” the chargeback. If that’s the case, they might find themselves arrested again whenever they return to the states.
Why are you showing a picture of a true luxury resort in Cabo (solaz), instead the one in question (palace) in Cancun?
Ben, we had our horrible experience last year at Hyatt Grand Island all inclusive in, you can guess it, Cancun.
The first problem, all the power went out on the property on a Saturday evening, ALL power. Not a back up light anywhere. Staff resorted to their phone lights. Eat in the dark, walk up flights of stairs without lights.
More problems each day including food poisoning.
The staff were ever so...
Ben, we had our horrible experience last year at Hyatt Grand Island all inclusive in, you can guess it, Cancun.
The first problem, all the power went out on the property on a Saturday evening, ALL power. Not a back up light anywhere. Staff resorted to their phone lights. Eat in the dark, walk up flights of stairs without lights.
More problems each day including food poisoning.
The staff were ever so tricky in dealing. Then the management and in fact the CEO of the property were ever so sly.
Hyatt America could not help.
In the end, they wanted us to sign a document of idemnity for 40,000 points, which included too much of our information.
Hyatt USA could not help.
This case is not a brand. Whatever is going on, it can be pretty bad to get locked up in a Mexican jail.
We would never stay in an all inclusive, and we certainly would steer clear of Cancun.
Yes Cancun will be America's next party place, spring breaks, bashes, gambling coming in.
Since the story was reposted (I posted in response to the original posting), I'll add a bit...
I have a lot of trouble caring about the timeshare's side of things. It feels to me like everyone here got greedy - the timeshare company being happy to sell $1.4 million worth of timeshares across 19 contracts to a couple speaks to the general greed in that industry. It seems obvious that Palace decided that they had...
Since the story was reposted (I posted in response to the original posting), I'll add a bit...
I have a lot of trouble caring about the timeshare's side of things. It feels to me like everyone here got greedy - the timeshare company being happy to sell $1.4 million worth of timeshares across 19 contracts to a couple speaks to the general greed in that industry. It seems obvious that Palace decided that they had caught a whale.
Why Palace didn't just take them to (civil) court when they discovered what was going on to begin with is a bit beyond me. Just kick them and resell their weeks and call it a day?
Honestly, I think my biggest dislike of Palace's side here is that I think the timeshare industry should be on the wrong end of "unclean hands". There's generally enough bad behavior all around (I think Disney is one of the few not-bad actors in the field) with lying sales agents (general misrepresentation of timeshare resale value and being able to get out of the timeshare after you buy it) and so on that I'd be just as happy if they were barred from making any claims in the courts.
The couple seems to have committed fraud and should probably be sued in civil court. But of course the corrupt Mexicans jump at the chance to put Americans in prison.
Was Ana Sorokin tried in a civil count in the US when she defrauded 3 banks? No, she ended up in prision. So I don’t see why these Americans should get any special treatment or just a slap on the wrist just because they’re in Mexico.
Did they think they were untouchable and could simply waltz in-and-out of Mexico as many times as they pleased after blatantly committing fraud?? The fraud is bad, but the arrogance of this couple is insufferable. (And nobody cares about your veteran status if you're a crim).
While timeshare salespeople have a certain rep, a timeshare as a travel tool is legit and thousands - if not millions - of people use it that way every year. How many stories have we heard about Americans having issues or blowback with/from the Mexican govt regarding their vacation ownership? None that I can recall.
Where there’s smoke there’s usually fire.
Every single time this story is on here, Ben tells us one of these fraudsters is a “veteran”. I’m sure that’s of vital interest to the Mexican court system.
The Mexican government does not care about an American’s Veteran’s status. As a police officer, it seems he should have been better versed in what fraud is.
I’m glad you wrote a reasonable researched summary of the situation as it’s been very one sided in the media with the Mexico company being solely in the wrong. As you suggested there are issues on both sides and not a story of “US citizens being taken advantage of” but more of a timeshare company doing what timeshare companies do and an American couple doing what (sadly) some Americans do abroad and FAFO’d. I’m saddened...
I’m glad you wrote a reasonable researched summary of the situation as it’s been very one sided in the media with the Mexico company being solely in the wrong. As you suggested there are issues on both sides and not a story of “US citizens being taken advantage of” but more of a timeshare company doing what timeshare companies do and an American couple doing what (sadly) some Americans do abroad and FAFO’d. I’m saddened they are in jail, but feel they he best way out of this is to find the $250k, apologize and move on with their lives.
Americans committing fraud and bring misery to wherever they go in the world. Shocking!
This couple is a SCAM artist duo!
Having an office in Florida does not make it an American company. From what I can find with an online search, Palace Company is as Mexican as its founder, Jose Antonio Chapur, who recently named his son Gibran (as in, The Prophet) as CEO.
"José Chapur Zahoul is the founder and President of The Palace Company, a leader in the luxury hospitality and vacation industry, and has been appointed to the [Mexico} Regional Economic...
Having an office in Florida does not make it an American company. From what I can find with an online search, Palace Company is as Mexican as its founder, Jose Antonio Chapur, who recently named his son Gibran (as in, The Prophet) as CEO.
"José Chapur Zahoul is the founder and President of The Palace Company, a leader in the luxury hospitality and vacation industry, and has been appointed to the [Mexico} Regional Economic Development and Relocation Advisory Council (CADERR)."
Longtime reader, first time poster.
I appreciate this blog for the travel information it provides and has provided over the years.
I have some pretty strong political opinions of my own, but I don’t post them here. I go to….you know….POLITICAL blogs to do that. WTF is wrong with people who want to bring Trump, democrats, etc into a conversation in some of the most specious, tangential, irrelevant ways?
Get. A. Life.
Commit a Fraud & Brag about it? Not the smartest thing to do! Oh He is a veteran ? In that case it is all Forgiven.
From friends and family who invested into a time share, Lifestyle , I can tell you that the scam is more complex than it seems by just looking at the final numbers, and the ones who are usually F***** is not the timeshare/resort, it is the buyer, as the resort has a team of lawyers to guarantee YOU loose any claim. First, to get you to buy in, they wine and dine you and tell...
From friends and family who invested into a time share, Lifestyle , I can tell you that the scam is more complex than it seems by just looking at the final numbers, and the ones who are usually F***** is not the timeshare/resort, it is the buyer, as the resort has a team of lawyers to guarantee YOU loose any claim. First, to get you to buy in, they wine and dine you and tell you all this can be yours for $XXX,XXX, everything you see and consumed; you then recommend it to others and every person you bring in you get X benefits, to make a long story short its a ponzi scheme where family and friends end up being your enemies, once they see what happens, and how you were tricked, and hence, so were they. First, they sell you a tier as the TOP TIER, but every couple of years your TOP TIER becomes a second or third TIER, where to come back to the TOP TIER, you have to pay again. In essence, they dilute your status to keep the scheme rolling, keeping new buyers coming, and old buyers paying again, to have what they were first shown, they continue dangling that carrot. With lifestyle, they even lost a large portions of their land which they sold to members as part of the property, with multiple 3 million dollar villas, and the only real losers were the members in that land loss. The legal fight is impossible because they register the company in different countries and the contract is made where the winner can only be the one who drafted the contract, even if they do a bait and switch on what got you to buy in, ie "breach the contract or promises". Many of those promises are verbal, some are in writing, but when your on vacation, who wants to have a 2 hour fight over what your entitled to at a front desk lobby, on every single trip. So, to get you to buy in they put you in a villa, they serve you the lobster, they serve you the champagne, they give you the golf cart, and slowly but surely, as you return, each of those begin to disappear or degrade, and are never seen again by you. So, in the end, I dont know this case, but I know these "TIMESHARE" schemes never loose, and Joe and Jill from Michigan are probably not capable of "defrauding" a large corporation with a team of accountants and lawyers.
Also, unless it's one of the vanishingly rare timeshares where you own a piece of a particular property and therefore are guaranteed access to that property, what you get is points.... which they keep devaluing, or they make it so that unless you buy more and more you don't get early access so all the good properties / time slots are already taken by the time you get access. Yes, we almost got suckered, but...
Also, unless it's one of the vanishingly rare timeshares where you own a piece of a particular property and therefore are guaranteed access to that property, what you get is points.... which they keep devaluing, or they make it so that unless you buy more and more you don't get early access so all the good properties / time slots are already taken by the time you get access. Yes, we almost got suckered, but came to our senses before even looking at the paperwork. It was a nice discounted stay in Hawaii, though, to attend the presentation.
This couple is a mega renter that got upset when Palace told them that they were no longer able to rent out bonus weeks, and so they started doing chargebacks. Does it suck to be stuck in Mexican prison? Yes. But these people aren't exactly innocent.
Here's a post from someone familiar with the couple:
Palace has made two public statements. The first one stated that the arrest had nothing to do with the membership...
This couple is a mega renter that got upset when Palace told them that they were no longer able to rent out bonus weeks, and so they started doing chargebacks. Does it suck to be stuck in Mexican prison? Yes. But these people aren't exactly innocent.
Here's a post from someone familiar with the couple:
Palace has made two public statements. The first one stated that the arrest had nothing to do with the membership either canceling a membership or canceling future payments. To the other posters point- this couple charged back almost $120,000 that they paid over a 13-month period. Their membership was close to $9000 a month. I was on her Facebook page - she stated she'd go down monthly because they lived in Michigan and the weather was terrible.
As a person who is a member it seems to me reading between the lines they used that membership the first 13 months after they upgraded in 2021. They were using images and logos to promote the referral program. Palace reached out and told them that they were using intellectual property to profit off the resort and needed to stop - this is from the couple's own rendition of the story that they posted on their Facebook group. Anyway this started the dispute she was - in my opinion - using the referral program inappropriately they caught her, they asked her to stop, and had them sign a contract addendum to stop.
This couple had 1,574 bookings under their membership - that is insane. She was running a bootleg travel agency. Palace reached out and told them to stop using their intellectual property and less then 6 months ago served her with a cease and desist order - again she shared this openly on the Facebook group- because her Facebook group's sole purpose was to trash the resort. This cease and desist ordered her to take down that Facebook group and to stop posting. She explained that she couldn't take it down cuz she actually hadn't started the group she joined it soon after it was created and partnered with the creator as a co-admin. But she did take herself off the group and she did stop posting.
Ironically three days before she flew down to Cancun she started posting again. Announcing she was about to remove members from the group page because she realized they were on other pages that were pro Palace. Like so what? I am on both types of groups very positive towards the resort and negative towards the resort that's how I learn that's how I know all the good bad and The ugly. I never once posted on that page because I really didn't agree with almost 80% of what I read but 20% was useful.
All to say- in my 20 years as a member although I have seen situations where Palace has come down on members for using the referral program inappropriately, I have never seen anything at this level. This is just my gut instinct - but I think they would have eaten the chargebacks and walked away. I think what really got them was that Facebook group. I was in that group for 2 years and her venom and anger and absolute revenge fueled animosity to destroy the company was a lot to read for me. And sorry a lot of what she stated was untrue in my humble opinion. When the son says "it was all over and done with" that's also untrue - again they were issued the order right before the holidays
I've been a member since 2008 and I've enjoyed my membership immensely. I've certainly enjoyed referrals from time to time as well. All of my referrals have come to me organically. Friends, friends of friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors. In my 18 years as a member I have probably enjoyed seven or eight "bonus weeks" which are the free weeks you get when you refer enough people. Every single one of those bonus weeks I took myself. I didn't try to sell them, I didn't try to sell them for half price. I didn't try to undercut palace's published rates -- that's all part of this whole fiasco with this couple.
The referral program at its heart is to reward members who refer friends and family to the resort. Like every other company out there - that has any type of referral program. When Palace saw this couple was making a true business out of it - that's not the spirit of this program. Do people sell bonus weeks? I'm sure they do. I'm sure they have sold them to friends or family -- Privately. They didn't promote the resort online get people to want to travel and then sell bonus weeks to those people to pay for their membership. If someone wants to sell a bonus week to someone else - sure fine go for it. You don't have to advertise everything you do in your life online.
I did the math. They couple had 1574 bookings (as per the palace official statement - they came with the receipts). If I took off 174 off the top - assuming not every one of those bookings resulted in a successful recommendation - that leaves1400. That would mean she got 700 bonus weeks. If I took an average stay at the resort of $3,000 a week - that's over $2 million of Resort stays.
This is the issue I believe. And again by her own account when Palace caught wise and revoked the unlimited referral program from this couple because they broke policy (that's palace's side - their side is different they didn't breach the contract) Palace never looked to recoup any of those used bonus weeks received through via ill-gotten gains, nor did they even cancel their membership. They wanted the couple to sign an addendum stating that they were forfeiting the unlimited referral program and also forfeiting any of the bonus weeks they had yet to take.
This couple got away with it for a very long time. They more than paid for their membership. They came out on top without a doubt..... It wasn't enough tho - they were so furious that Palace put a stop to the side hustle they had going -they went on a mission to destroy the company. That's what I think was last straw. The palace company states as much in their statement.
All any company has is its Intellectual property, trademarks, logos and reputation. She was absolutely causing reputational damage and a court felt the same way and issued a cease and desist order in late 2024. Clearly they didn't take it seriously.
Why did the Mexican government get involved. This seems rather unreasonable to me.
Maybe the couple spent 1.4M for reselling purpose which wasn't allowed? Also wonder if they did stay and then dispute or they dispute only after the problem began that they couldn't stay anymore. Despite that this story appeared at 630pm national news, google/reddit reviews aren't necessarily bad for a timeshare (many found this company good) that I felt there's more to the story. Thanks for the updates, and keep us posted.
My comment does not pertain to the couple, their arrest nor the timeshare industry. I am somewhat offended by OMAAT questioning how they accumulated the amount of money. Simply put, a few lucky transactions done decades ago might sprout and succeed. It could be a lucky, early bitcoin investment, a lucky stock purchase or a worthless piece of real estate that became worth more.
@ Donato -- You're absolutely right that it's possible that they've accumulated a good amount of money, we don't know that. My point is simply that if you're spending $1.4+ million on what essentially amounts to a timeshare, odds are that there's an ulterior motive, which might be reason to be suspicious. For that amount of money, they could've bought a very nice vacation home in Mexico, given the apparent desire to constantly travel there.
“With the wife not working, one certainly wonders how this couple had $1.4 million to invest on vacation packages, but that’s a different story…”
That’s not what the post says though. It certainly seems to insinuate, without any evidence, that the source of the money was suspicious.
Sleazy couple find a way to abuse a sleazy time share business. Sleazy attorneys make money. Enough said.
Let this couple rot in jail.
And the daughter with her ‘but he’s a veteran’ bs - they’re all awful.
Yeah, after reading @bjm11’s comment I am definitely rooting for the timeshare company.
ESH. I'm rooting for no one.
I've been reading about this the past couple days and there's way more to the story.
The tl;dr version is this:
- The couple entered into nineteen (19) *separate* agreements with the company.
- There are screenshots from the wife's Facebook of her reselling weeks/vacations at these properties. The screenshots were submitted by the resort company.
- Re-selling/re-packaging/profiting is explicitly against the membership agreement terms the couple signed, and since the...
I've been reading about this the past couple days and there's way more to the story.
The tl;dr version is this:
- The couple entered into nineteen (19) *separate* agreements with the company.
- There are screenshots from the wife's Facebook of her reselling weeks/vacations at these properties. The screenshots were submitted by the resort company.
- Re-selling/re-packaging/profiting is explicitly against the membership agreement terms the couple signed, and since the resort company found out, they're not happy.
[Side note: I imagine the wife/couple was doing this at decent scale. This explains the $100,000+ in membership charges.
- Once the couple got busted, they thought they'd pull a fast one and chargeback multiple (I believe it was 13?), legitimate charges--totaling the $100k+ mentioned in the article--they contractually agreed to, in writing no less. Surely they thought it was a brilliant idea.
- Even better for the story, but significantly worse for them, the reason they cited was that they "don't recognize the charges", also known as "fraud". They claimed they were not their charges and fraud, to say it again. They did not use any of the other chargeback reasons commonly available such as "Items/services not delivered as promised", they literally said they didn't make the charges.
- The U.S. consulate did make contact with the couple but didn't do anything further.
- They "F'ed around" and are now "finding out". They are now introducing sob stories--via their daughter as their mouthpiece--about how one of them has allergies and can't eat the food, and one of them has a bad rash that the jail doesn't care about.
- Of course, if you are in jail for a valid reason (which they are), the U.S. consulate can't just get you out because you're American. The family is now calling the U.S. consulate "useless".
- Nobody cares you were in the Navy. That doesn't matter, especially in another country, and isn't a pass to commit fraud...in any country.
When I initially heard this story, it was the family's telling of it. I thought it was horrible and the standard "corruption" thoughts came into my head. While Mexico has plenty of problems, there's significantly more to the story. Of course the daughter (family's de-facto spokesperson) isn't going to tell the other side, just the "Mexico is so corrupt, my parents are in jail for no reason" thing you'd expect her to.
@bjm11
Thanks for the further information. Certainly changes things.
This reminds me of the American teen who went to Singapore, did his Americanism and thought nothing would happen to him, until the Singaporean gov't whipped him. Then you heard his parents about how nice a kid he was and how evil Singapore is. They however never told you the crap their child did.
"Re-selling/re-packaging/profiting is explicitly against the membership agreement terms the couple signed" "The couple entered into nineteen (19) *separate* agreements with the company"
I would be careful making assumptions out of this. I have seen Timeshare negotiations where exactly this is sold as something you can do; as you can help bring in new "BAIT" to reel in. First, the salesteam are trained well to get you to buy, and tell you it is an...
"Re-selling/re-packaging/profiting is explicitly against the membership agreement terms the couple signed" "The couple entered into nineteen (19) *separate* agreements with the company"
I would be careful making assumptions out of this. I have seen Timeshare negotiations where exactly this is sold as something you can do; as you can help bring in new "BAIT" to reel in. First, the salesteam are trained well to get you to buy, and tell you it is an investment where you will make your money back and then some. It's possible, and I have seen it, that the couple was gaming the system so well that the rules were changed because of them, and yes, in that contract, anything can be changed if the property sees the initial offer is no longer profitable. I do not know their case, but I have seen similar cases. I know a family who would have more power at the resort than the GM, the wife would wet the hands of everyone at the resort, and she made money off this same strategy, reselling; the resort initially loved her, because she brought the sales team new people to trick, until one day, they flipped on her, changed the rules on the contract. The only requirement, initially, was that she had to be there when her "guests" arrived, and she could book up to ten rooms if she was on property, then 5, then 1. It all has to do with at what point you bought into the scheme. Again, the multiple "agreements", some resorts dilute each agreement to get the customer to buy back into the plan. Initial agreement you are GOLD TOP TIER, in 1 year now comes PLATINUM as TOP TIER so you sign again, and 2 years later WHITE is now TOP TIER, and again and again.
Some of the reporting I'm seeing says they're far from the only ones to run into issues with the company in question. Of course, it's a timeshare company, so that feels almost redundant.
(With Palace being based in the US, I kind-of wish there were some sort of bar on "US company using overkill charges in foreign court to coerce people into doing things when all parties are American".)
I'll point out that if the...
Some of the reporting I'm seeing says they're far from the only ones to run into issues with the company in question. Of course, it's a timeshare company, so that feels almost redundant.
(With Palace being based in the US, I kind-of wish there were some sort of bar on "US company using overkill charges in foreign court to coerce people into doing things when all parties are American".)
I'll point out that if the issue was/is folks canceling within the contract period, but after travel has happened, then the problem is with the company's contract(s) and the company should strongly consider just...I dunno, refusing to deal with people known to do that sort of thing? Cancel their contract, civilly trespass them from all company properties and put them on a blacklist, and call it a day.
The fact tere was an Interpol warrant for them is quite telling though...
"stepfather was a US Navy Chief Petty Officer who served the country for 21 years, and that this is no way to look after veterans" - LOL, is she aware that Mexico is not in the US?
Maximum security prison over an economic dispute is of course ridiculous. There must be more to the story.
Eh, Mexico is NOT in the USA yet - apparently. As soon as we get Canada, we'll then get Mexico :-)
This is an absolute shame! I can't believe this isnt headline news? Yet, every tom dick and harry who get deported seem to have some news story about what a great person they are and they have no criminal record. Yet, we have two Americans, who are being shammed and detained in Mexico WITHOUT bond or due process. And somehow people still vacation there...
There was an Interpol advisory about this couple. They deserve to be in jail - they broke laws and this is what happens. Mexico is not the U.S. so the America’s laws are completely irrelevant.
What do you mean without due process? They appeared in front of a judge, which is indeed due process.
Daughter’s obfuscations, inconsistencies and deflections sound like MAGA.
Couple’s textbook plagiarism of Dear Leader by denying payment for a service rendered smells like MAGA.
Seems like MAGA to me. But, suspending disbelief and returning to a principled stance, sure… it seems like they are being ransomed via criminal charges instead of more appropriate civil charges.
I wonder how the Mexican government could ever have been pushed to that strategy?!
In the end, I...
Daughter’s obfuscations, inconsistencies and deflections sound like MAGA.
Couple’s textbook plagiarism of Dear Leader by denying payment for a service rendered smells like MAGA.
Seems like MAGA to me. But, suspending disbelief and returning to a principled stance, sure… it seems like they are being ransomed via criminal charges instead of more appropriate civil charges.
I wonder how the Mexican government could ever have been pushed to that strategy?!
In the end, I couldn’t care less about these two. They returned to the scene of the crime, a foreign country notorious for intricately different laws, and thought they wouldn’t be held responsible. They will be a drain on America’s diplomatic resources and the national capital spent clearing up this $h!tstorm will be an embarrassing waste.
Oh well, I guess DOGE could lay off some more VA medical staff.
Why is MAGA put in? Politics are not even a reason.
Pardon me... would the term "MAGAt" be more appropriate? That describes someone who thinks: A) The rules don't apply to them, B) They can get away with anything be proclaiming a different country to be corrupt, C) Decry our government to be "useless" because they don't get what they want from it, rule of law be damned, and D) Think that being a veteran and/or law enforcement provide them a cloak of hero worship and...
Pardon me... would the term "MAGAt" be more appropriate? That describes someone who thinks: A) The rules don't apply to them, B) They can get away with anything be proclaiming a different country to be corrupt, C) Decry our government to be "useless" because they don't get what they want from it, rule of law be damned, and D) Think that being a veteran and/or law enforcement provide them a cloak of hero worship and impenetrability.
But when it comes to MAGA politics and policies, I can't wait to see these two see the further decrease in diplomatic resources as State Dept budgets and staff get cut.
I’m sure it’s an awful situation but quoting the daughter saying her parents are “good people” isn’t really newsworthy, and nor do I see how the gentleman’s previous work experience has any baring on the matter.
It's the mo for most white people. Despite the BS they do, we are often told, but they are good people... But no one else is doing the same things or even less serious infractions...
I mean, the daughter claims that her parents are good people. I mean you can be a good dad, caring for your family, and still be a criminal — or worse: a democrat.
a (casual) search indicates that Mexico does not allow imprisonment for debts, as in the US it is entirely a civil matter, so it must be the claim of fraud that has them in jail... it still feels wrong regardless of any possible Facebook bragging but you are subject to the laws of wherever you happen to be and those can be quite harsh. if they were planning on messing with the timeshare company they would have been smart to do their due diligence.
Not wise to play these types of 'games' in Mexico. Mexico has entered the 21st century. Immigration is computerized now so they can track just about anything, including criminal charges filed against you (whether legitimate or not). Traveling back to Mexico was not a good idea for this couple. It's a known fact that the courts in Mexico move at a snail's pace, so it's time for them to 'pony up' and hire a good...
Not wise to play these types of 'games' in Mexico. Mexico has entered the 21st century. Immigration is computerized now so they can track just about anything, including criminal charges filed against you (whether legitimate or not). Traveling back to Mexico was not a good idea for this couple. It's a known fact that the courts in Mexico move at a snail's pace, so it's time for them to 'pony up' and hire a good bilingual Mexican lawyer who understands real estate/timeshare contracts in Mexico!
And then write a Facebook post about it, ha!
This is a contract dispute and should be addressed as a civil matter; I agree that this couple sounds a bit shady but I don't see criminal fraud from the details available here, just aggressive dealing and very likely a breach of contract on one side, though it's impossible to say whether that was on the couple's side or not.
Sounds a lot more like theft of services to me, which is a crime.
The line between fraud and breaching a contract can be a fine one. Under US law (and I assume Mexico is similar), it just takes one material misrepresentation and intent to defraud. I'm guessing they probably lied on at least one of the forms they filled out (saying they wouldn't resell the bonus nights, for example), which is a material misrepresentation. And from how shady and greedy they seemed, proving intent to defraud doesn't seem...
The line between fraud and breaching a contract can be a fine one. Under US law (and I assume Mexico is similar), it just takes one material misrepresentation and intent to defraud. I'm guessing they probably lied on at least one of the forms they filled out (saying they wouldn't resell the bonus nights, for example), which is a material misrepresentation. And from how shady and greedy they seemed, proving intent to defraud doesn't seem like a stretch.
If they were smart, they'd shut up, hire a good Mexican criminal defense lawyer, and get this shit sorted quickly.
Plus they're now claiming all their payment forms are "lost or stolen", which is fraud. And, further, advocating that others do the same which, from the sounds, some have, moving it way beyond a civil matter of breach of contract.
I hestitate to comment - and don't know any additional details except thos that Ben put out. But there are a ton of timeshare frauds from Mexico. Here is one report in USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/22/thousands-of-americans-fall-prey-to-mexican-cartel-cjng-timeshare-scam/72695295007/
Anecdotally, I had a good friend and resonably smart person that was taken advantage of a couple of years back. I know of it because he wanted to temporarily borrow $200,000. He was not willing to share the complete...
I hestitate to comment - and don't know any additional details except thos that Ben put out. But there are a ton of timeshare frauds from Mexico. Here is one report in USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/22/thousands-of-americans-fall-prey-to-mexican-cartel-cjng-timeshare-scam/72695295007/
Anecdotally, I had a good friend and resonably smart person that was taken advantage of a couple of years back. I know of it because he wanted to temporarily borrow $200,000. He was not willing to share the complete details with me - but what I got out of it was that he had bought a time share somewhere in Mexico a few years previously. He was entually approached by a company that told him that they wanted to buy it from him, and he was going to get a nice profit over what he had originally paid. He agreed, and signed paperwork and was waiting for the cash to be deposited in a New York bank. Then he was told that the sale was held up until the "taxes" had been paid (and they were a significant amount), and he was liable for them by the paper work he had signed. But he would supposedly get the money he paid for "Taxes" back when a new owner bought it so it seemed like a net $0.00. They gave him the contact of a New York bank and he arranged to wire the money for "Taxes". They told him that wire was supposed to be broken into two wire transfers. He made the transfers and was then told that his wires had caught the attention of some government agency (I think it was supposedly a Mexican Government Agency) and he was now liable for a large penalties due to tax fraud, wire fraud and an attempt to launder money. Then he was contacted by some supposedly Government representative (!) who told him that he needed to pay this large amount to avoid prosecution by Interpol. He reviewed all of the communications with a lawyer, and the lawyer told him that the contracts were binding but he could not gaurantee that he would ever get his money back because the contracts were with Mexican entities that could simply disappear. He kept thinking he was going to get all of his money back once the timeshare was sold. And the fees continued to come in since he still owned the timeshare. Eventually, he gave his approval for the conveyance of the title to settle taxes, and did not recieve payment. He backed out of the entire transaction and lost all most all of his money.
So I tend to believe that the Michigan couple may have been the subject of a scam. The lesson to me is that you need good legal representation when dealing with these types of deals that are beyond your expertise - before you make any commitment. To me, it seems to me that it would also be smart to deal only with reputible, US-based companies (if you are a US citizen) such as Marriott or Hilton.
Should have bought a timeshare in Nigeria, it would have been guaranteed by a prince.
Ha ha ha!!
The fact he suffered fraud doesn't mean this couple did. Especially when the circumstances are different, note the facebook group they manage which badmouthed the company/advocated fraud, admitted their own, and the records showing they had utilised referrals to gain bonuses that they then advertised to resell to profit from, i.e. they were running it as their own business which is not what the service they signed up to is for.
Here is the Phone number of Palace Resorts. call them and find out!
Palace Resorts- 1-800-986-5632
Is that 1-800-Kars4Kids?
Was it an Interpol Red Notice or just a diffusion? I doubt very much Interpol is involved here. But that their names were flagged in Mexico means the aggrieved resort has considerable pull.
If you get out of a $117k debt in a foreign country, why are you ever going back there?
Because their daughter is still in America, despite successfully escaping to Mexico.
Ha ha ha!!
Anyone else think it's hilarious that the resort wants a Facebook post as an apology?!?! Haha
The cardholder will automatically win a chargeback if the other side doesn't dispute it, that's not an Amex thing. If they did respond and Amex still sided with the cardholder for that amount ... I mean, I know Amex is generous to cardholders but as someone who has dealt with chargebacks from the business side, it still seems like...
Anyone else think it's hilarious that the resort wants a Facebook post as an apology?!?! Haha
The cardholder will automatically win a chargeback if the other side doesn't dispute it, that's not an Amex thing. If they did respond and Amex still sided with the cardholder for that amount ... I mean, I know Amex is generous to cardholders but as someone who has dealt with chargebacks from the business side, it still seems like the resort was probably doing shady things they couldn't back up with proper documentation. Scammers hate getting scammed themselves, so the retribution angle makes sense to me.
I worked for American Express Card Member Services in the VIP Card Member division. Think Black Card... Amex does not take disputes lightly. If they sided with this couple there was Avery good reason for that.
Kind of scary that this is happening. I left a credit card for time share presentation with a few resorts. I noticed after I said no 2 of the 3 times they give you back the copy of you cc and passport.
From what I read, I understand that the wife had a history of making posts like how one could buy a timeshare, then travel, and at the contractual deadline state "oh, I don't like this anymore" then either get a refund or file a chargeback.
And just about all of us know how often Amex sides with its cardholder.... nearly always. Especially when the other party doesn't submit information. This is why a lot...
From what I read, I understand that the wife had a history of making posts like how one could buy a timeshare, then travel, and at the contractual deadline state "oh, I don't like this anymore" then either get a refund or file a chargeback.
And just about all of us know how often Amex sides with its cardholder.... nearly always. Especially when the other party doesn't submit information. This is why a lot of places won't take Amex.
The family in question has an interesting history... they have some money from the whole Michigan gymnastics coach scandal (the daughter was one who spoke out and got a huge settlement).
People don't seem to realize that, shock of shocks, the legal system in other countries doesn't work the same as the US. They were probably jailed so they didn't flee the country and never come back. Taking a passport from someone is no good if their desire is to return to their nation of citizenship (except for a handful of places). And well, sorry, but in a country where one is guilty until proven innocent following the Napoleonic code.... well that's a crappy place to be arrested. And not every country lets its prisoners have phone calls. Or special dietary requirements for food.
So if Amex asks a company to provide proper proof to contradict what the cardholder is claiming and it doesn't do so, Amex is supposed to do what? Still side with the company? You are joking, right?
And that is not the reason why many companies do not accept Amex btw.
Very hard to determine what is what in this story. But to all the people that babble on and on about how horrible the US is and our "oppressive justice system" here you go.
Oppressive indeed.
We can't even lock up people who committed treason and leak classified information.
Unless you're a whistleblower or you own a gun and lost a laptop.
Wait, the latter also got away.
Why do people always bring up veterans as if they are supposed to get special treatment? You served your country. Great. Thank you. Is the Dad supposed to get a special jail cell or a pass or something?
Also, as if [insert foreign country] cares about you serving in the military for the United States???
Imagine someone who's done national service in any of the dozens of countries that still mandate it invoking their veteran status as a way to obtain special treatment in the USA.
@Throwawayname
How would USA treat Ivan, a veteran who served in Grozny?
I think this is one of those American things us non-americas will never understand
Well, it got that Navy officer Alkonis out of prison despite him committing involuntary manslaughter. You can get the dumbest MFers in Congress to cheerlead hard for you if you served, and sometimes that's all that's needed for a foreign country to hand you over.
No clue who's telling the truth, but I tend to think if one leaves a credit card on file and agrees to a timeshare, there's a good likelihood that it's a legit claim by the timeshare company that they didn't get paid and chargebacks were filed.
Why would a company want negative publicity with a customer who paid their bills?
Now change the narratives to a Mexican couple committed fraud in the US....
I am pretty sure most Americans would be in favor of death penalty. The world needs to start treating Americans they way the treat other nations.
I...rather doubt it. Also, Palace is based in Florida, so the claim is actually "US couple defrauded US company by filing a claim with another US company, but since some element of it took place in Mexico they filed their case there rather than pursuing a US civil claim (which would probably have been laughed out of court)".
It /sounds/ like the family should probably be pursuing an extortion case against Palace.
Interpol? I would think Interpol would (and should) have bigger fish to fry.
That said, grabbing some innocent fool who's entering your country and tossing them in jail for a few months seems to be the latest fad. Might be a bit of retaliation going on here.
6 figure credit card fraud is a big deal.
You think 6 figure credit card fraud is a big deal, worthy of invoking Interpol? Compared to everything else that goes on every day around the world? Seriously? What world do you live in?
Not Interpol perhaps, but certainly the FBI. It would be considered wire fraud which is part of their purview.
The lesson? ONLY do business with US-based hotels and chains. At least you have recourse in US courts.
But it clearly says this company is based in Florida.... ohhhhh
I have a more compelling case thats more proovable in my favor. So yes an attorney would be nice. Woll not post my name just yet. Don't want to allow my laundry to be public. But my (our case) is compelling
I'm assuming the resort was in Mexico but the timeshare company is based in the US.
The claim is that Palace Resorts, a resort and timeshare company based in Florida, is retaliating against her parents because they disputed charges from the resort on their American Express card.
Oh this one is spicy. Can't wait to read how it all shakes out!