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

Fiji's High Court docket on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht could be seized by U.S. authorities.

American and Fijian officers 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 US, 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's not owned by Kerimov. As an alternative, he argued in courtroom 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 couldn't be reached for comment. The company intends to enchantment Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with local experiences and the maritime analytics web site Marine Traffic. Quickly after, a federal choose 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 couldn't instantly be reached for remark. 

On April 4, the company announced 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 handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties worth greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs to be able to fund the Ukrainian battle effort. President Joe Biden helps the invoice, which has yet to cross the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxury houses and other ill-begotten beneficial properties," Biden said on April 28 at the White Home.

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