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

Fiji's Excessive Court on Tuesday dominated that a huge 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 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, 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 executive at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, according to local experiences and the maritime analytics web site Marine Site visitors. Quickly after, a federal decide accepted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's prime prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice couldn't instantly be reached for remark. 

On April 4, the agency introduced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing one other Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the owner 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 different properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with the intention to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has yet to cross the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxurious homes and other ill-begotten positive aspects," Biden mentioned on April 28 at the White Home.

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