$5.5 billion wiped in one day: How a Mexican billionaire lost billions in online scam fooled by an 'illustrious family name'
Ricardo Salinas Pliego
, a Mexican billionaire and owner of Grupo Salinas, to Wall Street Journal. The owner of the telecommunications conglomerate
Grupo Salinas
lost nearly a quarter of his $16 billion fortune in a sophisticated "loan-to-own" scam orchestrated by con artists posing as descendants of John Jacob Astor, the German-born fur trader who was America's richest man when he died in 1848, according to The Wall Street Journal. Astor's family, known for dominating Gilded-Age society and inspiring the Waldorf Astoria hotels, was falsely linked to the fraudulent
Astor Capital Fund
.
How the scam started
In 2021, Salinas Pliego sought to finance a Bitcoin investment by borrowing $400 million against his shares in Grupo Elektra, a retail and banking empire founded by his father in 1950. He connected with Astor Capital Fund through a Swiss financial adviser, believing it was a prestigious firm tied to the Astor legacy. The company, led by a man claiming to be 'Thomas Astor Mellon,' offered a 1.15% interest loan and presented polished materials, including a website with a lion seal and a promotional video showcasing branded offices.
'Thomas Astor Mellon' was actually Alexey Skachkov, a Ukrainian with a criminal record
However, the operation was a facade. 'Thomas Astor Mellon' was
Alexey Skachkov
, a Georgian resident with a criminal record for prescription forgery and jewelry theft, while the mastermind, Ukrainian-born American
Vladimir Sklarov
, posed as 'Gregory Mitchell.' Sklarov, who also used aliases like 'Mark Simon Bentley,' had a history of fraud, including a 1990s $18 million Medicare scam. The Journal reports that Sklarov's group sold off Salinas Pliego's $400 million in Grupo
Elektra shares
, triggering a 71% stock plunge in July 2024, erasing $5.5 billion from his wealth and $4 billion from Elektra's market value. 'I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?' Salinas Pliego, 69, told the Journal.
The scheme funneled funds into luxury real estate, including a $6.45 million New York penthouse, a $2.67 million Virginia mansion, a $6 million French château, and Greek villas, according to property records cited by Currency. Warning signs emerged in 2021 when Salinas Pliego's team noticed unusual trading in Elektra shares, but assurances from Astor Capital, including visits to seemingly legitimate New York offices, delayed action. When Salinas Pliego attempted to prepay the loan in July 2024, Astor Capital issued a default notice, citing violations like a verification request and a Mexican government probe into his companies.
Salinas Pliego is not the only victim
The Journal notes that Salinas Pliego was one of many victims in a broader operation, with Sklarov allegedly controlling $750 million in stock from borrowers across the U.S., U.K., and Asia, using names like Cornelius Vanderbilt Capital Management. The fraud exploited securities-based lending, a $4.3 trillion market, per Deloitte, where lax regulation allows predatory schemes. Salinas Pliego's legal team has frozen $400 million in a London court and is tracing funds, some of which moved through Sklarov's New York attorney to offshore accounts. Sklarov, now living in Greece with a yacht named 'Enchantment,' denies wrongdoing, claiming borrowers knew their stock could be lent to third parties, per the Journal.
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