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

Fiji's High Courtroom on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht will 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 United States, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

But an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, mentioned it's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in court docket that company paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former government at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in response to native studies and the maritime analytics website Marine Traffic. Soon after, a federal decide 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 could not instantly be reached for remark. 

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

Legislation passed by the Home of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to sell the yacht and different properties price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs with a purpose to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has but to pass the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxury homes and different ill-begotten gains," Biden mentioned on April 28 at the White House.

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