Greek national charged in $450M stock-backed lending fraud scheme

A Greek national living in Athens has been charged with allegedly orchestrating an elaborate stock-backed lending scheme that prosecutors say defrauded a victim of at least approximately $450 million in company shares, federal prosecutors in New York announced.

Vladimir Sklarov, 63, also known as “Val Sklarov,” “Gregory Mitchell” and “Mark Simon Bentley,” was arrested in Chicago and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman in the Northern District of Illinois on May 4, prosecutors said. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New York.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton and FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office James C. Barnacle, Jr. announced the unsealing of the indictment charging Sklarov with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

According to the indictment, Sklarov from at least 2021 through 2024 operated a company called Astor Asset Group, which prosecutors allege falsely portrayed itself as a legitimate stock-backed lending firm affiliated with the prominent Astor family of New York. Prosecutors said Sklarov had no such affiliation and instead operated what they described as a sham company designed to obtain valuable stock through false and misleading representations.

Throughout the alleged scheme, Sklarov concealed his true identity and posed as “Gregory Mitchell,” the managing director of Astor, according to the indictment. A co-conspirator acting at his direction also allegedly used a false identity, prosecutors said, claiming to be “Thomas Mellon,” the company’s CEO. The pair allegedly told a victim that Astor was originally founded on the wealth of John Jacob Astor and that the firm counted prestigious universities and investment funds among its clients, according to court documents.

Prosecutors allege Sklarov induced the unnamed victim to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in company shares as collateral for a loan he claimed would be funded with Astor family capital. The victim allegedly never received such a loan. Instead, prosecutors said, Sklarov sold the shares soon after they were transferred, used a portion of the proceeds to fund the appearance of a legitimate loan and kept the remaining hundreds of millions for himself and co-conspirators. He then allegedly directed the proceeds through a complex web of domestic and international accounts tied to himself, co-conspirators and family members, according to the indictment.

“Sklarov used false prestige to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit,” Clayton said.

The case is being handled by the office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jackie Delligatti and Shaun Werbelow leading the prosecution.