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

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday dominated that a large Russian-owned yacht could 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 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. 

But an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it's not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court that corporate paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for remark. The company intends to appeal Tuesday's determination.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in accordance with native reviews and the maritime analytics website Marine Traffic. Soon after, a federal decide accredited a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice couldn't instantly be reached for remark. 

On April 4, the company announced 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 House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in order to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has but to go the Senate.

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

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter protecting prison justice, privateness issues and information security for CBS Information Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com