The Trustee representing holders of the 8.25% Senior Notes due 2024 issued by TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. has filed a motion seeking to hold TV Azteca and its controlling entity, Grupo Salinas, in civil contempt of the injunction issued on September 22, 2025, by Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The injunction, a critical component of the court’s enforcement of New York law in this cross-border bond dispute, expressly barred TV Azteca and any affiliates or persons “acting in concert” from prosecuting or initiating litigation in Mexico related to the company’s $400 million in defaulted notes. The order required the company to immediately dismiss its ongoing Mexican lawsuits and refrain from initiating any new legal proceedings.

According to the Trustee, TV Azteca ignored the injunction and has continued to litigate in Mexico — a brazen act that could expose the company, its executives, and affiliated entities to serious penalties, including coercive fines and additional enforcement measures.

A Direct Challenge to the Court’s Authority

In its October 16, 2025 letter to Judge Gardephe, the Trustee outlines multiple actions TV Azteca took in Mexican courts after the injunction took effect. Each of these actions, on their face, directly contradicts the terms of the September 22 order.

Specifically:

On October 1, TV Azteca filed a motion in Mexico’s Thirty-Eighth Superior Court to continue processing letters rogatory in one of the very actions the injunction required it to dismiss.

On October 7, Mexican counsel for the Trustee learned that TV Azteca had requested letters rogatory in another court to serve the Trustee and U.S.-based investment managers — an escalation of the same litigation the U.S. court enjoined.

On October 8, TV Azteca filed a motion in the Tenth Circuit Court in Civil Matters seeking to intervene and recuse two magistrates assigned to hear an amparo review tied to the blocked September 2022 injunction proceedings.

The Trustee’s filing points out that TV Azteca made these moves without having obtained any stay of the injunction — and that its belated stay request, filed weeks later, does not grant it immunity from compliance.

“The injunction is fully in force, and TV Azteca is required to comply with it,” the Trustee writes. “Defendants are not entitled to grant themselves a stay by running out the clock before seeking relief.”

This language reflects a hardening posture: the matter is no longer a simple enforcement dispute — it is becoming a challenge to the authority of the federal court itself.

What Contempt Means

Civil contempt is one of the most serious sanctions in U.S. federal practice. It is reserved for clear, deliberate violations of court orders. The standard is well established: if the court has issued a clear and unambiguous order, the violation is proven by clear and convincing evidence, and the alleged contemnor has not shown an inability to comply, contempt is appropriate.

Here, the Trustee argues that:

The order is clear — it expressly requires dismissal of the Mexican lawsuits and prohibits further proceedings.

The violation is undeniable — TV Azteca admits in its own monthly status report to the court that it made the Mexican filings.

TV Azteca has offered no valid justification for failing to comply.

Even foreign court procedures are not a valid excuse. The filing cites controlling U.S. Supreme Court precedent:

“If a person to whom a court directs an order believes that order is incorrect the remedy is to appeal, but, absent a stay, he must comply promptly with the order pending appeal.” — Maness v. Meyers, 419 U.S. 449, 458 (1975).

The Trustee further notes that TV Azteca has not even demonstrated that Mexican courts required it to violate the injunction. It simply proceeded as if the U.S. order did not exist.

Extending Liability to Grupo Salinas and Ricardo Salinas

The contempt motion is not aimed solely at the corporate entity. The Trustee is also seeking discovery to determine whether controlling shareholder Ricardo Salinas, Grupo Salinas, or others acting in concert should be held in contempt.

The filing emphasizes that Salinas is not a passive owner. He serves as chairman of both TV Azteca and Grupo Salinas and has direct influence over litigation strategy. The Trustee also references a prior civil contempt finding against a Grupo Salinas telecom affiliate in a separate New York case involving AT&T Inc. earlier this year. That case revolved around allegations that Salinas-linked entities evaded court-appointed receivers — an incident that raised eyebrows among creditors and the financial press.

This escalation raises the stakes dramatically. A finding of contempt against affiliated individuals could expose them personally to enforcement measures, increase financial penalties, and further undermine the already battered credibility of Salinas’s corporate network.

A Pattern of Defiance

The Trustee’s motion does not come out of nowhere. It is part of a growing pattern that many creditors and market observers have already noted:

2021: TV Azteca stops paying interest on $400 million in bonds, citing financial difficulties.

2022: Creditors accelerate the debt. TV Azteca runs to Mexican courts and obtains injunctions halting enforcement.

September 22, 2025: Judge Gardephe issues an anti-suit injunction, calling TV Azteca’s use of Mexican courts “a classic example of forum shopping and delay.”

October 2025: TV Azteca allegedly continues litigating in Mexico in defiance of that injunction.

For years, TV Azteca and its controlling entities have relied on jurisdictional arbitrage — using domestic Mexican courts to stall or block foreign enforcement — as a shield against creditors. This contempt filing signals that the U.S. judiciary is no longer willing to tolerate it.

High-Stakes Financial and Legal Fallout

A contempt ruling would be more than symbolic. It could:

Lead to daily financial penalties until compliance is achieved.

Authorize further discovery into personal and corporate assets of TV Azteca, Grupo Salinas, and their leadership.

Pave the way for attachment or seizure of assets under U.S. jurisdiction or in cooperating foreign jurisdictions.

Increase pressure from creditors and bondholders, who may accelerate collection strategies.

Severely damage the credibility of Salinas and his companies in international credit markets.

For Salinas, this comes on top of existing legal and financial turbulence:

He recently posted a $25 million bond in a separate case to avoid jail in New York.

He lost a multi-billion peso tax case in Mexico this summer.

His conglomerate is already facing growing scrutiny from regulators, creditors, and media.

A contempt ruling would escalate these pressures dramatically, moving the case from commercial litigation into the realm of judicial punishment for defiance.

A Blow to the Salinas Legal Playbook

This case strikes at the heart of a legal strategy Salinas has employed for decades: fight abroad, retreat to Mexico, obtain injunctions, and wait out creditors. This strategy has worked before. But the Gardephe injunction — and now the contempt motion — signals a profound shift.

If the court finds contempt, it will send a message not just to TV Azteca but to the broader market: forum shopping through Mexican courts will not shield debtors from U.S. enforcement.

A Moment of Reckoning

The contempt motion could be the most significant development in this long-running dispute yet. TV Azteca is no longer simply accused of owing hundreds of millions of dollars — it’s accused of spitting in the face of a federal court order.

This is not a technicality. It’s a moment of reckoning for one of Mexico’s most powerful and controversial business groups.

The court is expected to address the issue at the October 21 status conference, where it may set a briefing schedule or act on the Trustee’s motion directly.

References

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1%3A2022cv08164/586839/97/

https://tlblog.org/sdny-grants-anti-suit-injunction-against-tv-azteca/

https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-07-10/ricardo-salinas-pliego-pierde-otro-juicio-fiscal-tv-azteca-debera-pagar-mas-de-3500-millones-de-pesos-al-fisco-mexicano.html

https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-09-24/ricardo-salinas-pliego-evita-la-carcel-en-estados-unidos-al-pagar-25-millones-de-dolares-de-fianza-por-una-deuda-a-att.html

https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-09-30/sheinbaum-abre-la-puerta-a-reunirse-con-los-acreedores-de-salinas-pliego-en-estados-unidos.html

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/mexican-tycoons-retail-chain-ordered-to-pay-1-billion-in-back-taxes-d7b6e565