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

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday ruled that a massive Russian-owned yacht may be seized by U.S. authorities.

American and Fijian officers 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 corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it isn't owned by Kerimov. Instead, 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 could not be reached for comment. The company intends to enchantment Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in accordance with local stories and the maritime analytics web site Marine Site visitors. Quickly after, a federal decide authorized a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

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

On April 4, the company introduced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing another Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the owner of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Legislation passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties worth greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs so as to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has but to cross the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury properties and other ill-begotten gains," Biden stated on April 28 on the White Home.

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