The traces of golden million-dollar toilet were found in Russia
Andrei Bokarev, the Russian Billionaire, co-beneficiary of Kalashnikov, the world most famous firearms production corporation and a well-known collector of gold items may be behind the disappearance of Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork called “America”, according to the Russian newspaper Pravda. Mr. Bokarev acquired “America” to his Art collection just a few weeks ago but according to Cattelan’s art dealer nothing was purchased by the Russian.
Meanwhile insurance company Fine Art Specie Adjusters Ltd (FASA) offered up to £100,000 as a reward for the lost piece of Art.
According to the news source Andrei Bokarev’s latest and possibly the most expensive acquisition of Maurizio Cattelan’s work so far is a fully operational toilet made of gold and worth millions of dollars. The businessman allegedly purchased this golden piece of art as a present for his birthday and this unique piece of artwork was delivered to Moscow on October 23rd.
A solid 18-karat golden toilet, named “America” by its creator Maurizio Cattelan, was stolen on the 14th of September this year from an exhibition at Blenheim Palace, the Oxfordshire birthplace and family home of Winston Churchill. The toilet was part of a larger exhibition featuring Mr. Cattelan’s artwork. The stolen work was not the only one produced, it is known the artist made three gold toilets altogether.
Marian Goodman Gallery, another Cattelan`s artwork dealer, has no information about the sale of Cattelan`s artwork to Russia in the last two months, the Gallery’s representative reported in an email. So, the Cattelan’s golden toiled supposedly delivered to the Russian billionaire Andrei Bokarev in October 2019, is highly likely the piece stolen from Blenheim Palace exhibition.
Ironically, the possible moment of joy was overshadowed by an investigation into Bokarev’s main business assets Carbo One and Kalashnikov. The latter case has begun in Sweden, according to SVT. Major shareholders of the Russian weapons manufacturer have transferred almost 1 million euros to its American counterpart, an owner of Kalashnikov USA via Swedbank. US and EU sanctions forbid these companies doing business with each other.
Last spring Swedish Television made a revelation that the business network of the infamous Russian oligarch funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to tax havens through over 200 companies associated with Swedbank. Also, according to the Morgan Stanley sources, related to the continuous investigation into money laundering activities worldwide, Swedbank now could face a fine of $1.5 billion US dollars.
Analysts from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. have estimated potential penalties of about SEK8.7 billion. However, if only the Bank Account Managers have paid more attention to their clients’ activities, they could have easily found out Andrei Bokarev was on the list of the Heads of the Russian state-owned companies and so-called “oligarchs” close to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, identified by the U.S. Treasury Department. The list was drawn up as a part of the sanctions package signed into law in August 2018.
