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

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht might 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 US, 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's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in courtroom that company paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov could not be reached for remark. The company intends to appeal 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 judge authorized 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 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 owner of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Laws passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to sell the yacht and different properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs to be able to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has but to go the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxurious homes and different ill-begotten positive aspects," Biden stated on April 28 on the White Home.

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