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

Fiji's Excessive Court on Tuesday ruled 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 constructed 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. 

However an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, stated it's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in courtroom that corporate 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 could not be reached for comment. The company intends to appeal Tuesday's choice.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in keeping with local stories and the maritime analytics website Marine Site visitors. Soon after, a federal decide permitted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to forestall the ship from leaving.

The Department of Justice could not instantly be reached for remark. 

On April 4, the agency introduced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing one other 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 promote the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in order to fund the Ukrainian warfare effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to move the Senate.

"We'll seize their yachts, their luxurious homes and different ill-begotten positive factors," Biden said on April 28 at the White House.

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