• Transfer raises questions about pre-bankruptcy funding from St. Lucia-based lender
• Trustee seeks expedited relief for discovery, subpoenas in US court
• Trustee has been trying to show that AlterBank loan was fraudulent

Entities linked to TV Azteca transferred funds to creditor AlterBank prior to the St. Lucia-based bank’s MXN 4.1bn (USD 222m) loan to the Mexican broadcaster, BNY Mellon alleged in documents filed today (13 October) with the US Court for the Southern District of Florida.

BNY Mellon, the trustee of TV Azteca’s USD 400m 8.25% 2024 bonds, is seeking expedited relief regarding its motions to subpoena AlterBank executives and conduct discovery before the Florida court.

A TV Azteca-linked entity, Arrendadora Internacional Azteca, allegedly transferred USD 120m to AlterBank when it opened an interest-bearing checking account there on 26 January, three days before AlterBank made its loan to TV Azteca, according to the documents.

Arrendadora Internacional Azteca was 99.86%-owned by TV Azteca majority shareholder Comunicaciones Avanzadas until November 2025,  according to the documents. Comunicaciones Avanzadas owns 53% of TV Azteca. In December 2025, majority ownership of Arrendadora Internacional Azteca was acquired by two entities, Zaragola LLC and Sapodilla LLC, whose ultimate owners BNY Mellon has not yet identified, according to the documents.

Arrendadora Internacional Azteca also has its offices at the same address as TV Azteca, according to the document.

Three TV Azteca subsidiaries, Operadora Mexicana de Televisión, Prestación de Servicios de Publicidad and Lasimex, also opened accounts with AlterBank “in the days leading up to the granting of the AlterBank loan,” according to the documents.

AlterBank’s most recent financial statements, at the end of 2024, show it had total assets of USD 13.5m and a loan portfolio of only USD 6,510, meaning “months before granting a loan of more than four billion Mexican pesos, the loan portfolio reported by AlterBank was practically nonexistent,” BNY Mellon wrote.

BNY Mellon’s discovery and subpoena requests were only partially fulfilled by former AlterBank executive Blas Santander, according to the motion for expedited relief. In the motion, the trustee asked for an order from the court that AlterBank and its executives complete document productions by 16 October and sit for depositions 21 October, as well as that AlterBank’s CEO, Antonio José Romero, appear at deposition no later than October 30.

The trustee also requested that the court reject a request by Santander for a clawback of the documents he provided, as well as a requests for a protective order against the subpoenas.

BNY Mellon also submitted the 26 documents provided by Santander as exhibits to the federal first Bankruptcy Court in Mexico City, where TV Azteca’s main in-court restructuring proceeding is taking place, according to the Florida filing.

In the Mexican concurso, the federal First Bankruptcy Court in Mexico City recognized the presentation of evidence from the Florida court, according to a document from the court published today regarding proceedings from 12 October. The Mexican court also ordered TV Azteca to inform the court within three days if it knows the provenance of the funds used by an unnamed creditor and the names of the lenders which funded that operation, according to today’s document.

The Mexican court is in the process of deciding on the definitive creditor list, as reported. The conciliador official did not recognize the trustee and representative for the bondholders in establishing the provisional creditor list, as reported.

There is also a motion before the First Bankruptcy Court to declare the AlterBank loan ineffective for the purposes of the concurso, alleging it is fraudulent, as reported.

The US litigation stems from TV Azteca’s default on its 8.25% unsecured notes issued under a 2017 indenture governed by New York law. After the company missed an interest payment in February 2021, holders of more than 25% of the outstanding debt directed the trustee to accelerate the bonds in May 2022, demanding immediate repayment of principal, interest, and premiums.

The Florida case is In re Application of The Bank of New York Mellon v. Santander et al, number 1:26-mc-23885, in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The New York case is The Bank of New York Mellon v. TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. et al, number 1:22:-cv-08164, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.