US Man Charged with Stealing $450 Million in Alleged Loan Scheme Involving Mexican Billionaire

Billionaire Duped Out of $450 Million in Bogus Stock-Backed Loan Scheme

A man with multiple aliases used the name of the famed Astor family to dupe a Mexican billionaire out of around $450 million in a bogus stock-backed loan scheme, according to a newly unsealed U.S. indictment and other court records.

Vladimir Sklarov, 63, also known as Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley, set up a sham company, Astor Asset Group, that purported to be a legitimate and experienced loan provider connected to the Astors, federal prosecutors said. The storied New York family included John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America in the mid-19th century.

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the Mexican TV, retail and banking magnate, was the victim of the scheme, according to court records in litigation in England. Salinas confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year, stating, "I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?"

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Sklarov was arrested in Chicago on Saturday on the indictment by a federal grand jury in New York City, prosecutors said. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in federal court in Chicago, according to court records.

As alleged, Vladimir Sklarov represented his company to be affiliated with, and have the financial backing of the famed New York Astor family in order to burnish his brand, said Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. That was a complete lie. Sklarov used false prestige to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit.

In 2021, Salinas was seeking a $100 million loan that he intended to secure with shares of a company he owned, according to the indictment. Sklarov, using the name Gregory Mitchell and claiming he was "managing director" of Astor, and other, unnamed co-conspirators convinced Salinas that Astor was willing and able to provide the loan, prosecutors said.

The other conspirators included a man who also used an alias, Thomas Mellon, whose last name is also that of a prominent and wealthy American family. Sklarov and other conspirators told Salinas that Astor was originally established from the wealth of John Jacob Astor and that the company had high-profile clients including universities and investment funds, prosecutors said.

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Under a deal signed around July 2021, Sklarov agreed to lend Salinas at least $115 million, claiming the money would come from the Astor family, the indictment says. Salinas secured the loan with company shares worth at least $450 million that were supposed to be held but not sold.

Sklarov then sold the company shares, used some of the proceeds to fund the loan to Salinas and kept the remaining hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and other conspirators, federal prosecutors said. It wasn't until July 2024 that Salinas learned the company shares had been liquidated, the indictment says. A day later, Salinas received a letter from Astor falsely claiming that Salinas had defaulted on the loan, according to the document.