Court docket 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 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 america, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

But an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it isn't owned by Kerimov. As an alternative, he argued in court that company paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive 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 attraction Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in keeping with native studies and the maritime analytics web site Marine Visitors. Soon after, a federal decide permitted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment. 

On April 4, the agency introduced 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 other properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a purpose to fund the Ukrainian conflict effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has but to go the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxurious properties and different ill-begotten positive factors," Biden mentioned on April 28 on the White Home.

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