Court docket 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 could 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. 

However an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in courtroom that corporate 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 company intends to attraction Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with local experiences and the maritime analytics website Marine Visitors. Soon after, a federal choose authorized a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice could not instantly be reached for comment. 

On April 4, the agency announced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing one other Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the proprietor of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Legislation handed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs as a way to fund the Ukrainian conflict effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to cross the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury homes and different ill-begotten gains," Biden stated on April 28 at the White House.

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