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 can 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. 

But an legal professional who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, stated 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 company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for comment. The company intends to appeal Tuesday's resolution.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in accordance with native reports and the maritime analytics website Marine Visitors. Soon after, a federal decide accredited 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 introduced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing another Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the proprietor of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Legislation passed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to promote the yacht and different properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a view to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has yet to go the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury homes and other ill-begotten gains," Biden stated on April 28 on the White Home.

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