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

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

American and Fijian officials declare 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 lawyer who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it is not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court docket that company paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov couldn't be reached for comment. The corporate intends to appeal Tuesday's determination.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, according to native studies and the maritime analytics web site Marine Traffic. Soon after, a federal judge permitted 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 could not immediately be reached for comment. 

On April 4, the agency 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 passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties value more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a purpose to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has but to go the Senate.

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

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