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

Fiji's High Court docket on Tuesday ruled that a massive Russian-owned yacht could 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 the United States, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

However an legal professional who represents Millemarin Investments, the corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, said it's not owned by Kerimov. As an alternative, he argued in court that corporate paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov could not be reached for comment. The corporate intends to enchantment Tuesday's choice.

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

The Department 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 House of Representatives on April 27 would permit the U.S. to sell the yacht and different properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in an effort to fund the Ukrainian struggle effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to go 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 protecting prison justice, privacy points and data security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com