Alonso Ancira Elizondo was known to have split his time between Mexico and a ranch outside San Antonio, Texas before his arrest in Spain in 2019 on charges filed in Mexico in a corruption case tied to Pemex including allegations related to Odebrecht and Emilio Lozoya.
Less known is that Ancira managed a Cayman Islands company that owned the ranch land outside San Antonio.
The ranch was made up of four parcels that had a total value of $6.9 million for property tax purposes on August 7, 2020 according to the Bexar Appraisal District.
The parcels were acquired on different dates between 1996 and 2014 by a Cayman Islands company named Aifos Limited (formerly known as Epsilon International Ltd.). The prices paid by Aifos Limited were not publicly disclosed.
May 6, 1996: Epsilon International, Ltd., a Cayman Islands corporation, acquired 124 acres of land according to a deed executed May 6, 1996. The location of this land was 123 Old Fredericksburg Road in Boerne, Texas according to the Bexar Appraisal District.
July 10, 1996: Epsilon International, Ltd., a Cayman Islands corporation, acquired 30 acres adjacent to the parcel acquired in May. The total purchase price was not publicly disclosed, but the payment included $500,000 from a loan executed July 10, 1996 by Epsilon International, Ltd., payable to The Frost National Bank, according to the deed for the July purchase. The loan was secured by both the 124 acres purchased in May 1996 and the 30 acres purchased in July 1996. On September 21, 1999, the lender executed a release of the 1996 Deed of Trust.
May 21, 1999: Epsilon International, Ltd. changed its name to Aifos Limited.
June 28, 2013 through July 12, 2013: Aifos Limited, a Cayman Islands company acquired about 19 acres total from a Texas company named Araly LLC according to a deed dated June 28, 2013, notarized July 12, 2013, and signed by the “Sole Member and Manager” of Araly LLC, Aracely Garcia Granados. Araly LLC had itself only acquired the land on June 28, 2013, according to a deed dated, signed by the sellers, and recorded with the Bexar County Clerk the same date (June 28, 2013).
Aracely Garcia Granados was, at the time of the Araly-Aifos land transfer, the CEO of Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together Foundation Inc. (known as MATT), a nonprofit corporation that had Alonso Ancira Elizondo as its Chairman at the same time (2013).
The land Aifos Limited acquired in 2013 was adjacent to one of the parcels acquired in 1996.
February 28, 2014: Aifos Limited, a Cayman Islands company, acquired 7 more acres adjacent to its existing ranch land.
Alonso Ancira Elizondo was documented in Bexar County land records as “Manager” of Aifos Limited on two occasions (2009 and 2012). Ancira signed two separate utility easements (one signed August 10, 2009 and the other signed August 31, 2012) as “Alonso Ancira E”, “in the capacity of Manager” of Aifos Limited (the documents identified the company Ancira managed using both its current name Aifos Limited and its former name Epsilon International, Ltd.). Ancira’s signature on both easements closely resembles his signature as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Altos Hornos de Mexico, SAB de CV (AHMSA) on the AHMSA annual report in April 2017 (see comparison below).
Below: Alonso Ancira Elizondo’s signature as Chairman of AHMSA on the AHMSA annual report in April 2017:
Below: Alonso Ancira Elizondo’s signature on two separate easements (Top: 2009, Bottom: 2012)
Alonso Ancira Elizondo was an owner of the ranch’s operating company (separate from Aifos Limited) when he signed US Department of Labor forms on February 7, 2019. The ranch’s location was 123 Old Fredericksburg Rd., Boerne TX, according to the forms. This location was the same street address as the first parcel of land purchased May, 1996, by Epsilon International Ltd., now known as Aifos Limited.
On August 20, 2020, El Universal reported Ancira would remain free on bail in Spain while subject to an extradition proceeding after a judge in Mexico revoked Ancira’s arrest order earlier in August. The Attorney General’s Office in Mexico (Fiscalía General de la República) is expected to appeal the revocation, according to El Financiero on August 20, 2020.
ChedrauiLeaks has noticed that the media in Mexico contains very little information about the business dealings and personal assets in the United States of what could be termed Mexican elites, wealthy businesspeople and politicians. ChedrauiLeaks is not stating that members of the Chedraui family or its businesses had any involvement with the property or events described in this article.