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

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

American and Fijian officers 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 US, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

But an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned 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 government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for comment. The company intends to attraction Tuesday's choice.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in keeping with local studies and the maritime analytics website Marine Traffic. Quickly after, a federal judge accepted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

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

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 proprietor of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Laws handed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in an effort to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has but to go the Senate.

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

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter overlaying felony justice, privacy issues and information safety for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com