Salinas loses UK asset freeze over Black Cube spy tactics
A UK appeals court lifted a worldwide asset freeze against financier Vladimir Sklarov, stripping Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego of a critical legal advantage in a $400 million fraud case due to his use of secretly recorded evidence.
The UK Court of Appeal on July 21, 2026, revoked a worldwide freezing order against Vladimir Sklarov, a financier accused of defrauding Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego of $400 million to $415 million. The court found that Salinas Pliego’s legal team had secured the order using a secretly recorded conversation obtained by private intelligence firm Black Cube. Judges ruled the covert recording constituted a "serious abuse of the process of the court."
A company controlled by Salinas Pliego paid Black Cube approximately £1.14 million plus bonuses to investigate Sklarov. According to the appellate judgment, agents for the Israeli firm secretly recorded a lawyer representing Sklarov during an alcohol-fuelled dinner, and this material formed a key part of the strategy used to secure the emergency asset freeze. The appeals court determined the freeze would not have been granted had the misconduct been known.
The ruling serves as a sharp warning to international investors and regional tycoons who rely on London courts for their powerful pre-trial remedies. While the city remains a preferred venue for complex cross-border fraud claims, the decision proves that procedural misconduct can immediately void these extraordinary legal tools. For Salinas Pliego’s Grupo Salinas conglomerate—which controls Banco Azteca, Elektra retail stores, and TV Azteca—the judgment strips away critical leverage in its effort to recover the missing funds.
Despite the setback, the appeals court allowed the underlying civil fraud lawsuit to continue toward a full trial. Salinas Pliego alleges that Sklarov and entities tied to Astor Asset Management used a complex financing arrangement involving shares and assets to steal the hundreds of millions of dollars. The billionaire must now pursue those claims strictly on their merits, without the advantage of his opponent's global assets being locked down.
Sklarov was arrested in Chicago earlier in 2026 and remains in jail, but the UK ruling removes a major financial constraint on him as the broader commercial dispute unfolds. The appellate judges stated that such covert tactics had "no place in litigation in the courts of England and Wales." The dispute, active since at least 2025, ultimately highlights the strict boundaries of evidence gathering in English commercial courts.
