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

Fiji's High Courtroom on Tuesday ruled that a huge Russian-owned yacht might 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 america, 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 isn't owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court docket 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 remark. The company intends to attraction Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in keeping with native reviews and the maritime analytics web site Marine Site visitors. Quickly after, a federal judge permitted 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 immediately 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 Home of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a view to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has yet to go the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury properties and other ill-begotten positive factors," Biden mentioned on April 28 on the White House.

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