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

Fiji's Excessive Court docket on Tuesday ruled that a huge Russian-owned yacht will be seized by U.S. authorities.

American and Fijian officials 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 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 an alternative, he argued in courtroom 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 corporate 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 decide authorized a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice could not instantly 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 handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties worth greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs as a way to fund the Ukrainian battle effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has yet to move the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxury houses and different ill-begotten features," Biden stated on April 28 on the White House.

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