A Venezuelan model and reality television star was arrested on Monday night in Mexico after being eliminated from a Big Brother-style reality show, video posted online and broadcast on Mexican television show.
Aleska Génesis, 33, became the fifth person to be evicted from Telemundo’s La Casa de los Famosos: All-Stars on Monday after spending 35 days inside the house in Mexico City.
Video broadcast by Telemundo showed Génesis being confronted by law enforcement officers outside of the studio before she was handcuffed and led away in tears.
Telemundo told The Independent in a statement that it is cooperating with local authorities after Génesis was “detained due to personal legal matters” following Monday night’s episode.
“Prior to kicking off production, Aleska’s legal team confirmed she was able to participate in the show,” it added.
The model was first arrested in January 2024 at Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport, suspected of participating in the theft of three luxury watches worth about 10 million Mexican pesos ($492,000) belonging to Mexican casino mogul Francisco Javier Rodríguez Borgio. Borgio was in a relationship with Michell Castellanos, Génesis’ younger sister.
Police accused Génesis and her sisters of stealing the watches from a Mexico City property in October 2022. However, prosecutors later dropped the charges.
Local media reported that the Attorney General’s Office of Mexico City obtained an arrest warrant for Génesis for robbery.
The suspect was then taken to the medical examiner for a check-up before being handed over to the Mexico City police.
Despite the reports of the arrest, Génesis’ Instagram account was active late on Monday night, resharing posts by her sister Michell Castellanos.
Castellanos, 29, also a celebrity in Latin America going by the pseudonym Michelle Roxana, alleged that Génesis’ arrest was a “farce” and a ploy by her ex-boyfriend, Borgio, to “tarnish our image.”
“I directly blame Francisco Javier Rodríguez Borgio, author of all the false cases, who has been sending me threatening messages just when the police arrived to illegally detain Aleska Génesis Castellanos in Mexico City,” she wrote in an Instagram Story in Spanish, translated by Google.
In another, Castellanos added: “There is overwhelming evidence that confirms that this is a farce created by Borgio to harm and tarnish our image.”
The woman also claimed, without citing evidence, that the Attorney General’s Office acted “illegally, allowing this abuse of power.”
Court records show that last year, Castellanos attempted to sue Borgio for at least $16 million, claiming he had promised to buy her real estate during their relationship.
The trial resulted in the jury finding in favor of the defense on all counts, and Castellanos received no payment.
The Independent has contacted the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Mexico, Telemundo and Borgio’s lawyer for more information.
