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

Fiji's Excessive Court on Tuesday ruled that a huge Russian-owned yacht might 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 built his fortune on gold mining. Kerimov was sanctioned in March by america, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

However an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate 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 possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in keeping with native reviews and the maritime analytics web site Marine Site visitors. Soon after, a federal decide accepted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

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

On April 4, the company introduced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing one other 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 enable the U.S. to promote the yacht and different properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs so as to fund the Ukrainian battle effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has but to move the Senate.

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

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