(Bloomberg) — Lawyers for Ricardo Salinas Pliego unveiled new details Friday of the loan agreement they allege was part of a scam to con the Mexican billionaire out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
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In a London court hearing, attorneys documented how a financial adviser for Salinas and an employee at one of his companies helped arrange a loan for a Salinas firm in 2021 that eventually totaled $110 million. Salinas’ lawyers allege that representatives for the lender, an affiliate of Astor Asset Management, used fake names and gave the false impression that their firm was related to the fabled Astor family of Gilded Age New York.
In exchange for the loan, the billionaire offered up more than $400 million in shares of his Grupo Elektra SAB as collateral. The stock was placed in the custody of brokers who then transferred them to the lender, unbeknownst to Salinas, his attorneys allege.
Most of that stock was sold in small increments over the course of almost three years, despite account statements that showed it was still being held by the broker, Salinas’ lawyers said in court documents. Some of the proceeds were used to fund Astor’s loans to Salinas, his lawyers alleged.
After winning an initial ruling earlier this year freezing any remaining shares held by the lender and proceeds of share sales, Salinas’ lawyers are asking the court to ignore a request by Astor to lift the order and free the assets. The court has yet to issue a new ruling.
In a separate filing Friday, Astor said the 2021 agreement with Salinas gave it 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 collateral would be traded, Astor’s attorneys said.
“To pretend that unfavorable provisions or provisions permitting share lending do not apply to Mr. Salinas is appalling,” said Vladimir Sklarov, who is named as a defendant along with Astor and is described by Salinas’ lawyers as the person with principal responsibility 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 an alias in his dealings with the billionaire’s representatives. To them, he was known as Gregory Mitchell. Another person representing Astor in the loan agreement called himself Thomas Mellon but was really a Russian associate of Sklarov’s, according to Salinas’ attorneys.
‘Puff Piece’
To demonstrate why Salinas thought he was dealing with a prestigious family, his lawyers pointed to a “puff piece” online that refers to Thomas Mellon as a descendant of the Astors who is seeking to live up to their legacy.
At the time the billionaire agreed to the deal in 2021, he had been seeking to refinance a loan with BNP Paribas, according to the court documents. A financial adviser the billionaire has worked with in the past was approached by an intermediary who connected him to Astor, the documents say.
Salinas, 68, has said that he’s unable to get the shares back despite offering to pay the loan in full. Elektra shares on the Mexican stock exchange have been suspended from trading since July 26 because of Salinas’ claim of the alleged fraud.
The company was removed from Mexico’s benchmark stock index by S&P Dow Jones Indices last month due to the prolonged trading suspension, which sets up shares for a sharp drop when they resume trading and index-linked funds seek to sell holdings.
A spokesperson for Salinas, Luciano Pascoe, said the legal action depicts a pattern of behavior by Sklarov, who has been sued in the past over claims that he used the names of financial institutions and famous families. “We are certain justice will prevail,” Pascoe said.
Sklarov was accused by Barclays Plc of infringing on the Lehman Brothers trademark to pursue fraudulent schemes. Rothschild Group filed a similar suit against Sklarov in 2019. Court records show that both suits were settled with Sklarov agreeing not to use the Lehman Brothers or Rothschild names.
Sklarov was convicted in 1997 in the US of fraud involving Medicare and sentenced to one year in prison. In an email, Sklarov acknowledged the conviction and said the case was about interpretation of Medicare guidelines that weren’t consistent in different states.
–With assistance from Steve Stroth.
(Updates with Salinas spokesman comment in 13th paragraph)
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