Colombian Model Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering
This week, Colombian model Valentina Forero Alvarez admitted to her role in leading a multistate criminal organization involved in laundering over $31 million tied to drug trafficking through the U.S. financial system.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that the 33-year-old, originally from Armenia, Colombia, entered her guilty plea on Tuesday. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg explained that Forero Alvarez orchestrated a network of couriers who traveled to Colombia to facilitate the laundering of illicit drug money via U.S. banks.
As part of this operation, Forero Alvarez instructed primarily Colombian associates to come to the States on tourist visas. They would collect large sums of cash multiple times from various cities and deposit them into bank accounts associated with shell companies and others operating in unregulated exchange markets.
The couriers made these deposits not only in Georgia but also in at least 14 other states. Investigators uncovered that one such account received more than $31 million in cash deposits, with approximately $2.9 million coming from the Northern District of Georgia. Authorities seized more than $4.8 million they believed was connected to drug activity.
“Forero Alvarez presided over an international network that exploited our nation’s financial system to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds,” Hertzberg stated. “Those involved in drug trafficking who think they can hide their crimes through complex money-laundering schemes or by living abroad will be found, prosecuted, and held accountable.”
The conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and fines that could reach twice the amount of laundered funds, along with additional penalties. U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg is set to impose sentencing at a later date.
Reports indicate that Forero Alvarez was arrested in Colombia in November 2023 and later extradited to the U.S. in May 2025. Colombian authorities seized three vehicles and several commercial properties linked to her associates, who lacked the financial means to justify such assets. The total value of these seized assets was approximately 7.3 billion Colombian pesos, or around $2 million.
Local news, such as Univision Atlanta, noted that court documents revealed that couriers transported cash from drug transactions in shoeboxes and shopping bags, often totaling “tens of thousands of dollars.” They received a portion of this as payment for their services.
After securing the cash, couriers would make bank deposits in amounts less than $10,000 to evade reporting requirements. They also had to send a photograph of their bank receipts to Forero Alvarez via encrypted messaging apps. Subsequently, the laundered money was shifted between front companies and eventually sent to an account in Colombia.
