US charges man who used Astor name to steal about $450 million

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A federal indictment unsealed this week accuses Vladimir Sklarov—who prosecutors say used multiple aliases—of duping Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego through a stock-backed loan scheme that relied on the Astor name as false backing. Prosecutors said Sklarov set up a sham company, Astor Asset Group, and used its purported connection to the famed New York family to persuade Salinas to sign a deal in 2021.

According to the indictment and other court records described by the Associated Press, Sklarov also went by the names Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley. Prosecutors said he used the Astor name and the appearance of prestigious backing to give the scheme credibility to a lender who sought a large loan.

The case centers on a loan offer prosecutors said Salinas was seeking in 2021—aiming for $100 million—secured with shares of a company Salinas owned. Prosecutors said Sklarov and other conspirators told Salinas that Astor would provide the loan and that Astor’s roots dated to John Jacob Astor, while also claiming the company had high-profile clients.

Prosecutors said the parties signed a deal around July 2021 in which Sklarov agreed to lend Salinas at least $115 million, according to the indictment. The indictment says Salinas secured the loan with company shares worth at least $450 million that were supposed to be held and not sold.

Federal prosecutors said Sklarov then sold those shares and used some of the proceeds to fund the loan to Salinas, while keeping the remaining hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and other conspirators. The indictment says it was not until July 2024 that Salinas learned the shares had been liquidated.

The indictment described that, a day later, Salinas received a letter from Astor falsely claiming he had defaulted on the loan, and prosecutors said the company previously told him—wrongly—that it had the right to sell the shares. The AP reported that while the unsealed indictment did not name the victim, court records in England from related litigation show the scheme involved Salinas Pliego.

In a statement tied to the federal case, U.S. attorney Jay Clayton said Sklarov “represented his company to be affiliated with, and have the financial backing of the famed New York Astor family” to burnish his brand. Clayton also said, “That was a complete lie,” adding that Sklarov used “false prestige” to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit.

Salinas Pliego told the Wall Street Journal last year that he felt deceived by the arrangement, saying, “I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?” The AP reported that Salinas later confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in that interview.

Prosecutors said Sklarov was arrested in Chicago on Saturday on the indictment returned by a federal grand jury in New York City. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in federal court in Chicago, according to court records, and a public defender representing Sklarov did not immediately return messages Tuesday, the AP said.