TV Azteca Took US$290 Million Offshore Loan Before Filing
MEXICO · BUSINESS
Key Facts
—What happened. TV Azteca took a facility of up to US$290 million from AlterBank in January, weeks before seeking bankruptcy protection.
—Who reported it. Armando.info and El Faro published the investigation on 24 September, and Proceso summarised it the next day.
—What AlterBank is. Outlets describe it as an offshore lender registered in Saint Lucia with three employees.
—Who is named. Proceso names two Venezuelans, Augusto César Castillo Chávez and Tomás Hernández, as the men behind it.
—The company answers. TV Azteca says the financing was legal and that the money went to its tax bill in Mexico.
—The creditors answer. Bank of New York Mellon has gone to a United States court, calling the deal a possible fraudulent transfer.
—Why it matters. Mexico’s second broadcaster owes creditors about 24 billion pesos, roughly US$1.4 billion, and is restructuring under court supervision.
Mexico’s TV Azteca borrowed from an offshore bank registered in Saint Lucia weeks before it sought bankruptcy protection. The facility ran to as much as US$290 million, about 5 billion pesos.
The investigative outlets Armando.info and El Faro published the finding on 24 September. The broadcaster says the loan was legal and that the money paid a tax bill.
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What the Investigation Says
The two outlets traced the lender, AlterBank, to Saint Lucia, a Caribbean island of about 180,000 people. El Imparcial, summarising the work, described a financial entity with three employees.
Proceso, the Mexican weekly, named two Venezuelans as the men behind the bank: Augusto César Castillo Chávez and Tomás Hernández. It reported that both have been linked to President Nayib Bukele’s government in El Salvador.
El Siglo de Torreón, reporting the same investigation, said Hernández had been identified as an adviser to that government. It also reported claimed links to companies tied to alleged corruption in El Salvador’s pandemic spending.
None of that has been tested in court. No charge has been reported against AlterBank, against the two men or against TV Azteca over this loan.
Armando.info reports on Venezuela from exile, and El Faro is a Salvadoran outlet that now works from Costa Rica. Both have published on Bukele’s government before, and both are read as critical of it.
The Timing
The facility was agreed on 29 January 2026, according to the specialist service BankruptcyData. Repayment was due in July, creditors told a court in Miami in June.
TV Azteca asked a Mexican judge for concurso mercantil, the country’s bankruptcy procedure, in September. Five of its subsidiaries, including the online-casino permit holder Ganador Azteca, filed separately on 18 September.
That sequence is what interests the creditors. Money arrived from an unfamiliar lender shortly before the company sought protection from the creditors it already had.
The broadcaster has also asked a New York court for recognition of the Mexican case. That step, known as Chapter 15, stops American creditors seizing assets while the Mexican process runs.
What the Company Says
TV Azteca’s position, as reported by El Siglo de Torreón, is that the financing was legal and legitimate. It says the proceeds went to meet obligations with Mexico’s tax authority, known as the SAT.
BankruptcyData reported a different emphasis, saying the facility was obtained to stop the seizure of the broadcaster’s assets. The two accounts are not necessarily in conflict, because a tax debt can trigger a seizure.
It is not clear how much of the money was actually drawn. The reports describe a maximum facility rather than a confirmed transfer of the full amount.
The Creditors’ Case
Bank of New York Mellon, which represents bondholders, has gone to a United States court over the transaction. Its filing raises the possibility that the loan was a fraudulent transfer, a legal term for moving assets out of creditors’ reach.
Creditors first raised the AlterBank facility in a complaint filed in Miami on 2 June. The company has since sought protection in New York as well, to shield the Mexican restructuring from American lawsuits.
A fraudulent-transfer claim is an allegation, not a finding. Courts on both sides of the border will decide whether the January deal stands.
Who Ricardo Salinas Pliego Is
TV Azteca belongs to Grupo Salinas, the conglomerate of Ricardo Salinas Pliego, one of Mexico’s richest men. His businesses run from broadcasting to retail and banking, and he is a vocal critic of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
He has spent years fighting the tax authority in court over bills he disputes. Those cases are separate from the bankruptcy, but they are the backdrop to a loan the company says went to the SAT.
The group has also lost ground in its core business. Mexican advertising has moved to streaming and social platforms, which hits the second broadcaster harder than the first.
What to Watch
The first question is documentary: which accounts the US$290 million passed through, and what security the lender took. Creditors will press for that in the United States, where disclosure rules are wider.
The second is whether Mexican regulators look at AlterBank at all. Nothing published so far shows a Mexican authority examining the lender.
The third is the restructuring itself. A judge who treats the January facility as suspect can reorder the queue of creditors waiting to be paid.
For viewers and staff, none of this changes the schedule yet. Concurso mercantil is designed to keep a company trading while the arguments go on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AlterBank?
Reporting by Armando.info and El Faro describes it as a lender registered in Saint Lucia with three employees. Its legal status has not been ruled on by any court.
How much did TV Azteca borrow?
The facility was for up to US$290 million, about 5 billion pesos, agreed on 29 January 2026. It is not clear how much was drawn.
Is anyone facing charges?
No charge has been reported against the broadcaster, the bank or the men named in the investigation. Bank of New York Mellon has filed a civil claim in the United States.
What does concurso mercantil mean?
It is Mexico’s court-supervised bankruptcy procedure. A judge oversees negotiations between a company and its creditors while the business keeps trading.
