Fake names lured billionaire Salinas into scam, lawyers say

(Bloomberg) — Lawyers for Ricardo Salinas Pliego on Friday revealed new details about the loan agreement they say was part of a scam to fleece the Mexican billionaire out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

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In a court hearing in London, lawyers documented how a financial adviser to Salinas and an employee of one of his companies helped arrange a loan for a Salinas firm in 2021 that eventually totaled 110 millions of dollars. Attorneys for Salinas allege that representatives of the lender, a subsidiary of Astor Asset Management, used false names and gave the false impression that their firm was related to the legendary Astor family of Gilded Age New York.

In exchange for the loan, the billionaire offered more than $400 million in Grupo Elektra SAB shares as collateral. The shares were placed in the custody of brokers who then transferred them to the lender, unbeknownst to Salinas, his lawyers claim.

Most of that stock was sold in small increments over nearly three years, despite bank statements showing it was still owned by the broker, Salinas’ lawyers said in court documents. Some of the proceeds were used to fund Astor’s loans to Salinas, his lawyers argued.

After winning an initial ruling earlier this year that froze all remaining shares held by the creditor and the proceeds of the stock sale, Salinas’ lawyers are asking the court to ignore Astor’s request to lift the order and release the assets. The court has not yet issued a new decision.

In a separate filing Friday, Astor said the 2021 agreement with Salinas gave him the right to access the billionaire’s shares held as collateral. The fund made it clear to Salinas’ financial adviser in September 2021 that the shares held in escrow would be traded, Astor’s lawyers said.

“To claim that the unfavorable provisions or the provisions that allow stock lending do not apply to Mr. Salinas is appalling,” said Vladimir Sklarov, who is named as a co-defendant with Astor and is described by Salinas’ lawyers as the primary person responsible for the lender. In an email Friday, Sklarov said most of his firm’s borrowers understand the terms of their loans.

Salinas’ legal team said — and Astor’s lawyers acknowledged — that Sklarov used a pseudonym in his dealings with the billionaire’s representatives. To them, he was known as Gregory Mitchell. Another person representing Astor in the loan agreement was named Thomas Mellon, but was really a Russian associate of Sklarov, according to Salinas’ lawyers.

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“Puff Piece”

To demonstrate why Salinas believed he was dealing with a prestigious family, his lawyers pointed to an online “fluff” referring to Thomas Mellon as a descendant of the Astors trying to live up to their legacy.

At the time the billionaire accepted the deal in 2021, he had sought to refinance a loan with BNP Paribas, according to court documents. A financial adviser the billionaire worked with in the past was approached by an intermediary who put him in touch with Astor, the documents say.

Salinas, 68, said he could not get the shares back, although he offered to pay off the loan in full. Elektra shares on the Mexican stock exchange have been suspended from trading since July 26 due to Salinas’ complaint about the alleged fraud.

The company was pulled from Mexico’s benchmark stock index by S&P Dow Jones Indices last month because of the extended trading suspension, which sets the stock up for a sharp drop when it resumes trading and index funds look to sell stakes.

A Salinas spokesman, Luciano Pascoe, said the lawsuit describes a pattern of behavior by Sklarov, who has been sued in the past for allegedly using the names of financial institutions and famous families. “We are confident that justice will prevail,” Pascoe said.

Sklarov was accused by Barclays Plc of infringing the Lehman Brothers trademark to pursue fraudulent schemes. The Rothschild Group filed a similar lawsuit against Sklarov in 2019. Court records show that both lawsuits were settled, with Sklarov agreeing not to use the names Lehman Brothers or Rothschild.

Sklarov was convicted in 1997 in the US of Medicare fraud and sentenced to a year in prison. In an email, Sklarov acknowledged the conviction and said the case involved interpretation of Medicare guidelines that were inconsistent across states.

–With help from Steve Stroth.

(Updates with comment from Salinas spokesperson in 13th paragraph)

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