Couple Jailed In Mexico For Resort Credit Card Dispute: Mistake Or Fraud?

Here’s a really strange story (thanks to Jack for flagging this). An American couple is claiming to be jailed in Mexico over a credit card dispute. Meanwhile Mexican authorities are accusing the couple of fraud. What’s really going on here?!

Mar 26, 2025 - 17:10

Couple Jailed In Mexico For Resort Credit Card Dispute: Mistake Or Fraud?

Here’s a really strange story (thanks to Jack for flagging this). An American couple is claiming to be jailed in Mexico over a credit card dispute. Meanwhile Mexican authorities are accusing the couple of fraud. What’s really going on here?!

Michigan couple jailed in Cancun over resort dispute

An American couple from Michigan has been in a maximum security facility in Mexico since March 4, 2025, after being arrested at Cancun International Airport (CUN), upon arriving in the country. That’s right, the pair were arrested upon arrival in Mexico, and have now been in jail for over three weeks.

Before we get into the details, let me explain what makes this a bit murky. The couple has been able to have limited contact with the outside world, with the daughter in the United States relaying details based on short, daily phone calls with her mother.

According to the daughter, the arrest stems from a dispute over a timeshare, with the resort demanding $250,000 and a public apology in order for the couple to be released, according to the daughter. 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.

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. The couple reportedly believed that the timeshare charges were fraudulent. As a result, they disputed the charges with American Express, and the credit card issuer took the couple’s side in the dispute.

It’s worth noting that the claims have evolved a bit in recent days. Initially, the claim was that the charges were just fraudulent, while now the claims are that the couple is “able to prove that Palace Resorts had breached their contract, and in that contract, it offered them the ability to have their money back,” which they’re now refusing to do.

The daughter points out how horrible conditions have been in the prison, with her mom losing over 20 pounds, due to not being able to eat the prison food due to allergies. She points out how her parents are good people, and how her stepfather was a US Navy Chief Petty Officer who served the country for 21 years.

The American couple that has been jailed in Mexico

Mexico claims couple defrauded resort for $100K+

So, what’s the other side to this story? Officials in Mexico have charged the couple with defrauding a resort, and both were wanted by Interpol. So they were arrested upon arrival in Mexico because their names obviously triggered something when they attempted to enter the country. Note that they were vacationing in Mexico, but not specifically at the resort that was involved in their dispute.

According to the police, the couple signed a contract in November 2021 to purchase a timeshare to a hotel chain club, which granted them benefits of various rates and products.

They left a credit card on file, to be used for monthly payments. Later, between August and November 2022, the hotel company received notifications from American Express that the couple had canceled 13 credit card transactions, totaling $116,587.

Authorities also claim that the couple wrote on Facebook about how they committed the fraud against the hotel. A judge in Cancun has ordered the couple to remain in custody for the duration of their legal proceedings.

Let me emphasize that the couple’s daughter claims this is all “completely false news,” and is intended to “defame and slander” her parents, and she claims they “have all proof necessary to show” that these are lies. However, on her Facebook post intended to draw attention this, she rarely actually answers the questions people have, but instead responds to anyone who questions what happened by stating the following over and over:

can you please forward me the information of the legal representation you have personally hired that has provided you the factual evidence for this case of my parents? can you please show me where that legal representation received permission to also represent my parents?? because that would actually be the only way you would be receiving FACTUAL evidence of this case. It appears you may have just hired the internet and wanted to sound important like you know the details. I could be wrong however – so if you could please provide me with the name of your legal team you hired to work this case directly, I would appreciate it. thanks!

I’m not sure what to make of this situation?

Look, timeshares are definitely a bit predatory, and if you’re going to ask me to side with either a friendly-looking older couple from Michigan or a timeshare company, I’ll almost always go with the former.

That being said, the more I read about this, the less sure I am. There’s talk of how the woman was bragging on Facebook about her fraud, though I haven’t been able to find that. Based on what I’ve been reading, those discussions took place in a private Facebook group.

We’re talking about 13 credit card transactions totaling $116,587. Either this couple massively got screwed by fraud, or they signed or for a timeshare package that includes “the works,” because that’s a lot more expensive than your typical timeshare package. In a foreshadowing that almost seems like it’s out of The White Lotus, at the same time that these charges were being disputed (October 2022), the mother 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.”

What I find most telling here is how the couple’s defense has evolved. It seems they’re not disputing the legitimacy of the charges as such, but instead, are claiming that they were no longer on the hook because the timeshare company breached the contract:

Timeshare agreements, much like airline contracts of carriage, are typically written in a very one-sided way
The fact that they signed up for a timeshare that would’ve included 13+ charges of well over $10K each over a short period of time makes me skeptical about their intention to maintain the timeshare

The more I read about this, the more I wonder if there was some scheming going on here, and if the couple was thinking “well let’s sign up for a package that gets us a lot of travel quickly, and then we can always get out of it by disputing the charge,” thinking they’ll never get caught, since it’s Mexico.

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 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.

I’m not sure what to think of, but I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this, to see how it evolves.

What do you make of this strange situation?