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

Fiji's Excessive Court docket on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht might be seized by U.S. authorities.

American and Fijian officers 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 lawyer who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, said it isn't owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in courtroom that company paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive 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 appeal Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in response to native reports and the maritime analytics website Marine Site visitors. Soon after, a federal judge approved a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice could not instantly 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.

Laws passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and different properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs to be able to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has but to cross the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxurious homes and other ill-begotten beneficial properties," Biden said on April 28 on the White Home.

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