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

Fiji's Excessive Court on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht will 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 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 lawyer who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, said it isn't owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in court that company paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former govt at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov could not be reached for remark. The corporate intends to enchantment Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in keeping with local reviews and the maritime analytics website Marine Visitors. Quickly after, a federal judge permitted 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 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.

Legislation passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would permit the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with the intention to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to go the Senate.

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

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter overlaying felony justice, privacy points and knowledge security for CBS Information Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com