Man accused of using famous family's name to steal $450m from Mexican billionaire

A man has been charged with scamming a Mexican billionaire out of around $450m (£331m) after pretending to be linked to New York's wealthy Astor family, according to US court documents.

Vladimir Sklarov, 63, who was arrested in Chicago, appeared in court on Monday, accused of setting up the sham company, Astor Asset Group.

Prosecutors claim he used the firm to fool his victim into believing it was connected to the family of John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America in the mid-19th century.

Although the indictment does not name the victim, court records in a separate case in the UK show it was Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the Mexican TV, retail and banking magnate.

Mr Salinas, the owner of the telecommunications conglomerate Grupo Salinas, also confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.

"I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?" Mr Salinas told the newspaper.

Sklarov, who also goes by the names Val Sklarov, Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley, is charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each of those charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

"Vladimir Sklarov allegedly betrayed a trusting victim to steal more than $450 million in company shares," said the FBI's James C Barnacle, Junior.

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The indictment said that his company held itself out as "a legitimate and experienced provider of stock-backed loans affiliated with the prominent Astor family".

"In reality, Sklarov had no such affiliation, and instead ran a sham company designed to steal valuable stock through lies and misleading representations," it adds.

Sklarov and other conspirators told Mr Salinas that Astor was originally established from the wealth of John Jacob Astor and that the company had high-profile clients, including universities and investment funds, prosecutors said.

"Sklarov used false prestige to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit," Jay Clayton, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, alleged in a statement.

Authorities listed Sklarov's hometown as Athens, Greece, although The Wall Street Journal reported he is a Ukrainian-born American.

(c) Sky News 2026: Man accused of using famous family's name to steal $450m from Mexican billionaire