purchase art linked to the Rotenbergs followed a unique and recognizable financial path: Mr. Baltser bid on specific artworks at auction, purchased the art, and then assigned the title to the art to a Belize company named Steamort Limited ("Steamort"). Steamort paid for the art using funds the Subcommittee traced back to Highland Business.
Mr. Baltser, however, was not the owner of Steamort; he had a contract with Steamort to serve as a consultant to purchase art on behalf of the company. A copy of that contract was produced to the Subcommittee by Christie's. Both the contract and financial records showed that Steamort paid Mr. Baltser $9,500 a month for his services. In total, between March 2010 and October 2018, financial records show Mr. Baltser received $1,116,000 in fees for his consulting services under the Steamort Agreement.
Company documents obtained by the Subcommittee listed Steamort's only director and shareholder as Jason Hughes. According to a report by ICIJ, Mr. Hughes was associated with over 200 other companies as a nominee director—an individual who masks the true UBO of a shell company.
The owner of Steamort remains unknown. In 2012, Christie's questioned Mr. Baltser about who owned Steamort, and asserted that Mr. Baltser could no longer bid at auctions until he provided Steamort's UBO. Initially, Mr. Baltser responded that he did not know who owned Steamort. When pressed and threatened with missing the opportunity to bid at an upcoming auction, Mr. Baltser verbally told Christie's that Steamort was owned by "Luisa Brown." Christie's accepted this verbal assertion, conducted AML checks on Ms. Brown, found no derogatory information, and cleared Mr. Baltser to continue bidding at auctions. Mr. Baltser never provided any documentary evidence of Steamort's ownership by Ms. Brown. The Subcommittee was unable to confirm if an individual named Luisa Brown was the UBO for Steamort, or if she even existed at all.
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BALTZER Auction Agency and Club (Photo Credit: BALTZER)
Mr. Baltser opened an auction agency and club in Moscow. In late 2012, Mr. Baltser announced he was planning to open BALTZER Auction Agency and Club. The agency would be located in Moscow and its members would
be "the leading Moscow and Russian collectors—the active participants of auction biddings at many world marketplaces." Mr. Baltser proposed to partner with both Christie's and Sotheby's. As part of the proposed agreement, Mr. Baltser stated that he would
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