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

Fiji's Excessive Court docket on Tuesday dominated that a huge Russian-owned yacht will 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 the United States, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

But an lawyer who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, said it isn't owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court 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 enchantment Tuesday's choice.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in response to native reports and the maritime analytics website Marine Visitors. Quickly after, a federal decide authorised a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

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

On April 4, the company introduced 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 enable the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in order to fund the Ukrainian battle effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has yet to cross the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxurious properties and other ill-begotten good points," Biden mentioned on April 28 at the White Home.

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