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

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

American and Fijian officials declare 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 legal professional who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it isn't owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court docket that company 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 comment. The corporate intends to attraction Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, according to native reviews and the maritime analytics website Marine Visitors. Quickly after, a federal choose authorised 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 couldn't instantly be reached for comment. 

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 handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would permit the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs so as to fund the Ukrainian conflict effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has but to cross the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxury homes and different ill-begotten positive factors," Biden stated on April 28 on the White Home.

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