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

Fiji's High Court docket on Tuesday dominated 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 constructed his fortune on gold mining. Kerimov was sanctioned in March by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

However an legal professional who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, stated it is not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, 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 firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in accordance with native stories and the maritime analytics website Marine Site visitors. Soon after, a federal judge authorised a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice could not instantly be reached for remark. 

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.

Legislation handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would permit the U.S. to promote the yacht and different properties price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a view to fund the Ukrainian battle effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has yet to go the Senate.

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

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