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

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday ruled that a massive 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 constructed 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. 

However an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it isn't owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in court docket that corporate paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, according to local reviews and the maritime analytics web site Marine Traffic. Quickly after, a federal decide authorised a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice couldn't immediately be reached for remark. 

On April 4, the company introduced 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.

Legislation handed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to promote the yacht and different properties worth greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a purpose to fund the Ukrainian battle effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to pass the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxury homes and other ill-begotten positive factors," Biden stated on April 28 on the White Home.

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