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

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

American and Fijian officers 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 USA, 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, mentioned it's not owned by Kerimov. As a substitute, he argued in court docket that corporate paperwork traces the ship's possession 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 remark. The corporate intends to attraction Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, according to local reviews and the maritime analytics web site Marine Visitors. Soon after, a federal decide authorized a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

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

On April 4, the agency announced 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.

Legislation passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties value greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a view to fund the Ukrainian conflict effort. President Joe Biden helps the bill, which has yet to go the Senate.

"We will seize their yachts, their luxury homes and different ill-begotten good points," Biden said on April 28 on the White House.

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