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

Fiji's Excessive Courtroom on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht may 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 constructed his fortune on gold mining. Kerimov was sanctioned in March by america, 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, stated it's not owned by Kerimov. As an alternative, 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 firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, based on native studies and the maritime analytics web site Marine Visitors. Quickly 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 Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment. 

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 proprietor of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Laws passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would permit the U.S. to promote the yacht and other properties price more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs as a way to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the invoice, which has yet to cross the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxurious houses and other ill-begotten features," Biden said on April 28 on the White House.

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