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 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 US, 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, said it is not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court that corporate paperwork traces the ship's possession 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 comment. The company intends to attraction Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with native reviews and the maritime analytics web site Marine Traffic. Soon after, a federal choose permitted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice could not immediately 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 other properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in an effort to fund the Ukrainian struggle effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has yet to pass the Senate.

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

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