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

Fiji's High Court docket on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht will 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 constructed 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 corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, stated it isn't owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in courtroom that company paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with local experiences and the maritime analytics web site Marine Visitors. Quickly after, a federal judge authorized a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice couldn't instantly be reached for comment. 

On April 4, the company introduced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing another Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the proprietor of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Laws handed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs to be able to fund the Ukrainian struggle effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has but to cross the Senate.

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

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