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

Fiji's High Courtroom 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 constructed 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. 

But an legal professional who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it is not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court that company paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former govt at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for remark. The corporate intends to attraction Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in response to native studies and the maritime analytics website Marine Traffic. 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 couldn't immediately be reached for remark. 

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

Laws passed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in an effort to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has yet to move the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxurious houses and different ill-begotten positive factors," Biden stated on April 28 at the White Home.

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