Mexican TV star who once proposed to Tom Brady is on the run after being accused of embezzling $146m
Former employee says famous couple were ‘up their necks’ in allegations of financial fraud
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Your support makes all the difference.A Mexican television host who famously once proposed to Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady has been accused of financial fraud and is reportedly on the run from her home country.
Inés Gómez Mont and her lawyer husband, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Puga, were reportedly accused of embezzling almost 3bn pesos (or $146m) from Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior last week, but have not been reached by Mexican authorities.
A former member of staff for Ms Mont told TVNotas that the pair had been “up to their necks” in accusations of financial fraud between 2016 and 2017, and were able to flee before the issuing of an arrest warrant on 10 September
It was believed that Ms Mont and Mr Puga were hiding in the US, although this remains unclear. Mexican news outlets have also reported that the high-profile pair have family homes in the US, including ownership of a mansion formerly belonging to Cher.
Mexico’s attorney genera has reportedly asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant against Ms Mont and Mr Puga, and according to Animal Politico, Mexican authorities consider the couple as fugitives because intelligence suggests they had been out of Mexico for “months”.
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In an Instagram on 11 September, Ms Mont told her followers that she had not known about the arrest warrant ahead of it being issued, and hit out at press reporting.
She also denied the accusations of embezzlement against her and her husband, who is a lawyer in Mexico and has connections to a number of small companies that have worked on social causes such as fighting food poverty in the country, according to Clase.
Ms Mont went on to thank her fans for sending support amid “this sad and painful situation”, and said she and her husband were “preparing to face this process and exercise all our rights”.
She is a familiar face on Mexican television and was famously rejected by NFL quarterback Tom Brady during a marriage proposal at the 2008 Super Bowl, when she was reporting on the final.
If Ms Mont and Mr Puga are arrested and convicted in Mexico on charges of money laundering and operations with resources of illicit origin and embezzlement, the pair will face imprisonment of 20 to 60 years, according to Animal Politico.
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