Acun Ilıcalı's billionaire friend falls victim to scammers

Acun Ilıcalı's friend, Mexican media mogul Ricardo Salinas Pliego, fell victim to a major fraud while vacationing in Bodrum. In 2021, while seeking a 400 million dollar loan for a Bitcoin investment, Pliego was introduced to a fund called "Astor Capital Fund." It was claimed that this fund bore the name of the "Astor" family, one of the established families in the United States. Pliego held a video call on a luxury yacht with a person who introduced himself as "Thomas Astor Mellon."

Following this meeting, as a result of negotiations with another scammer using the name "Gregory Mitchell," Pliego signed a fake agreement bearing the lion seal of the Astors. However, he realized he had been defrauded three years later and learned that his 400 million dollars in shares had been sold. The identities of these individuals, who have criminal records for fraud, were identified. Following this incident, Pliego expressed his feelings by saying, "I feel like a complete fool."