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

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday ruled that a massive 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 the USA, 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's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in courtroom that corporate paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for remark. The corporate intends to enchantment Tuesday's resolution.

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

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

On April 4, the company 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 handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would permit the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a view to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to cross the Senate.

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

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