Courtroom in Fiji approves U.S. warrant to seize Russian-owned mega-yacht

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday ruled that a huge Russian-owned yacht will be seized by U.S. authorities.

American and Fijian officers declare the Cayman Islands-flagged Amadea is the property of Suleiman Kerimov, an oligarch who constructed his fortune on gold mining. Kerimov was sanctioned in March by the USA, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

However an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it is not owned by Kerimov. As an alternative, he argued in court docket that corporate paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former govt at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov could not be reached for comment. The company intends to attraction Tuesday's determination.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in response to native studies and the maritime analytics website Marine Site visitors. Soon after, a federal decide approved a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice couldn't immediately be reached for remark. 

On April 4, the agency announced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing one other Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the owner of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Laws passed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to sell the yacht and different properties price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with the intention to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has yet to move the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxury houses and other ill-begotten positive factors," Biden stated on April 28 on the White Home.

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering legal justice, privateness points and knowledge security for CBS Information Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com