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

Fiji's Excessive Court docket on Tuesday dominated that a large Russian-owned yacht could be seized by U.S. authorities.

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

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

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for remark. The corporate intends to enchantment Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with local stories and the maritime analytics website Marine Site visitors. Quickly after, a federal judge approved a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice couldn't immediately be reached for comment. 

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

Laws handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and different properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in order to fund the Ukrainian struggle effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has yet to pass the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury homes and other ill-begotten beneficial properties," Biden said on April 28 at the White House.

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter masking legal justice, privateness issues and data safety for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com