Billionaires usually practice due diligence, especially when it comes to making huge investments. Ricardo Salinas Pliego thought he was doing just that, believing he was actually transacting with America's oldest money dynasty – the Astor family.
Unfortunately, it was not the case. It turns out that the Mexican billionaire got duped out of more than $450 million (£331 million) by a man who was initially identified as Gregory Mitchell. He passed himself off as a loan provider for the Astor Capital Fund. However, this name was actually an alias to cover his real identity – Vladimir Sklarov.
