Mexican television personality Inés Gómez Mont has been arrested in connection with an alleged $146 million tax fraud scheme. She has denied all accusations against her.
The 43-year-old presenter was taken into custody by police in Miami, Florida, on Friday after spending roughly five years wanted by Mexican authorities.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office has accused Gómez Mont of organized crime, money laundering, handling funds from illicit sources and tax fraud.
Authorities allege that the mother of six helped use a network of shell companies to redirect almost $146 million in public money. She is also known for proposing to NFL star Tom Brady on television while reporting from the 2008 Super Bowl.
Images from the arrest show Gómez Mont with her hands cuffed as two officers hold her by the arms.
She was wearing a blue mini skirt, a white cropped top and sneakers.
A Mexican federal judge issued arrest warrants for Gómez Mont and her lawyer husband, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Puga, in September 2021. The couple subsequently left Mexico with their family.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office later asked Interpol to issue international arrest notices, known as red notices, in an effort to locate the pair and secure their extradition.
Mexican TV host Inés Gómez Mont, 43, was detained by police in Miami, Florida, on Friday after being wanted by Mexican authorities for half a decade
A photo shows the moment Gómez Mont was taken into custody; she could be seen standing with handcuffs on her wrists as two police officers hold tightly onto her arms
In September, Interpol controversially withdrew the international red notices issued for the couple.
The move drew sharp criticism from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, while the domestic arrest warrants against Gómez Mont and Álvarez Puga remained in effect.
Gómez Mont had lived openly in Miami for five years despite the Mexican warrant. US authorities detained her in the Florida city on October 30.
She remains in custody in the United States while immigration proceedings and formal extradition requests are considered.
Her husband, Álvarez Puga, who has been nicknamed the “King of the Invoice Mills,” was detained by ICE in Miami in 2025.
After the allegations emerged in 2021, Gómez Mont used social media to tell her 2.5 million followers that she was innocent.
“I have been silent for a few days to try to understand the facts attributed to me and to focus on my defense,” she wrote in a statement shared on Instagram.
“Despite not having access to the file, I want to emphasize that I am innocent and have not committed any crime.”
The star, along with her husband, have been accused by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office of being involved in organized crime, money laundering, operations with funds of illicit origin and tax fraud. She denies wrongdoing
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The mother-of-six is alleged by Mexican authorities to have used a network of shell companies to divert nearly $146 million from public funds. She says she is innocent
“Indeed, according to the press, the authorities accuse me of allegedly having received money from two public contracts, totaling 3 billion pesos [roughly $146 million], and of belonging to organized crime. Those facts are absolutely false,” she added.
“To be clear, I have never stolen a peso. Nor have I received money from those contracts, much less have I seen or had 3 billion pesos in my life. I’m a full-time mom and TV host. And under no circumstances do I belong to organized crime.”
If convicted, Gómez Mont and Álvarez Puga could each face between 20 and 60 years in prison.
According to the case presented by Mexican authorities, the couple obtained two contracts from the Ministry of Interior in 2016 through a shell company called Inteligencia Cibernética. The money was allegedly transferred through approximately 1,500 banking transactions.
The contracts required the company to install security systems at seven prisons in Sonora, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Durango, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Morelos.
“However, that did not happen, as the equipment never reached the prisons, the [ministry] officials diverted the money to the aforementioned company in a corrupt and illegal way [and] it had to be used for improvements in the security of the prison system,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a court filing.
The office alleges that Inteligencia Cibernética then relied on seven additional shell companies—Arromlop, Rancel, Modeno, Comcelint, Gupea, Tangamanga and another individual—to move money and issue invoices for services that were never provided between September 2016 and 2017.
In September 2021, a federal judge in Mexico issued a warrant for the arrest of both Gómez Mont and her lawyer husband, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Puga, but the two left the country with their family. She denies any wrongdoing
She is best known for proposing on TV to NFL quarterback Brady while she was wearing a wedding dress at the 2008 Super Bowl media day where she was reporting
Gómez Mont began her career as an actress, appearing in the 1997 telenovela Tric Trac.
She joined Mexican multimedia company TV Azteca in 2002 and became host of Los 25+ in 2004.
However, she became internationally recognized after proposing to NFL quarterback Tom Brady while wearing a wedding dress during a 2008 Super Bowl media event.
When Brady called on her during a press conference, she told him: “I am in love with you. Marry me, please.”
Brady replied that she had a beautiful name before saying he was a “one-woman man.”
He also described her as “beautiful” and said that any man given the chance to marry her would be lucky.
Before leaving Mexico for the United States with her husband and children, Gómez Mont told followers on Instagram that they were “preparing to face this process and exercise all our rights.”
Gómez Mont and Álvarez Puga have two children together. She also has four children from her previous marriage to Javier Díaz.
Our News Outlet has contacted the couple for comment.
