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

Fiji's Excessive Court 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, mentioned it's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in courtroom that company paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with native reports and the maritime analytics web site Marine Traffic. Quickly after, a federal choose accredited a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment. 

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.

Laws handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs to be able to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has yet to go the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxury houses and other ill-begotten positive factors," Biden mentioned on April 28 at the White House.

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter overlaying felony justice, privateness issues and information safety for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com