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

Fiji's High Court on Tuesday ruled that a large Russian-owned yacht might 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 constructed 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. 

But an lawyer who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it's not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, 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 enchantment Tuesday's choice.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, based on native studies and the maritime analytics website Marine Traffic. Quickly after, a federal decide approved a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

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

On April 4, the agency 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 price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs so as to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has yet to move the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxury houses and other ill-begotten good points," Biden mentioned on April 28 at the White House.

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