Federal authorities have arrested a 63-year-old man accused of orchestrating an elaborate fraud scheme that netted approximately $450 million from a wealthy Mexican businessman by falsely claiming connections to the historic Astor family fortune.
Vladimir Sklarov, who operated under several false identities including Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley, established a fraudulent business called Astor Asset Group that falsely presented itself as a legitimate lending institution with ties to the renowned Astor dynasty, according to federal prosecutors. The Astor name carries significant weight in American financial history, with John Jacob Astor ranking among the nation’s wealthiest individuals during the 1800s.
Court documents from related litigation in England identify the victim as Ricardo Salinas Pliego, a prominent Mexican media, retail and banking executive. Salinas publicly acknowledged falling victim to the Astor Asset Group scam during a previous interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?” Salinas Pliego told the newspaper.
Law enforcement took Sklarov into custody in Chicago over the weekend following his indictment by a New York federal grand jury. Court records show a detention hearing has been set for Friday in Chicago federal court.
Attempts to reach Sklarov’s court-appointed attorney in Chicago were unsuccessful Tuesday.
“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,” Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “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.”
According to the indictment, Salinas sought a $100 million loan in 2021 that would be backed by shares from one of his companies. Operating under the false name Gregory Mitchell and claiming to serve as Astor’s “managing director,” Sklarov worked with unnamed accomplices to persuade Salinas that their company could provide the requested financing. The conspiracy included another individual using the alias Thomas Mellon, borrowing from another famous American family name.
The defendants told Salinas that their company traced its origins to John Jacob Astor’s wealth and served prestigious clients including universities and major investment funds, prosecutors alleged.
Through an agreement executed around July 2021, Sklarov committed to providing Salinas with at least $115 million, falsely stating the funds originated from Astor family resources. Salinas pledged company shares valued at no less than $450 million as collateral, with the understanding that these securities would remain untouched.
Instead of holding the shares as promised, Sklarov liquidated them, using a portion of the proceeds to fund Salinas’s loan while pocketing the remaining hundreds of millions for himself and his co-conspirators, federal authorities said.
Salinas remained unaware that his company shares had been sold until July 2024. The following day, he received correspondence from Astor falsely alleging he had violated the loan terms. A month prior, the fraudulent company had incorrectly notified Salinas that it possessed the authority to sell his pledged shares, according to prosecutors.
Federal records list Athens, Greece as Sklarov’s residence. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Sklarov, born in Ukraine but holding American citizenship, had prior fraud convictions.
