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

Fiji's Excessive Court on Tuesday dominated that a massive Russian-owned yacht might 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 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 corporate the $325 million ship is registered to, stated it is not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in courtroom that corporate paperwork traces the ship's possession to Eduard Khudainatov, a former govt at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil firm who has not been sanctioned. 

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

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in accordance with local reviews and the maritime analytics website Marine Site visitors. Quickly after, a federal judge permitted a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

The Division of Justice could not instantly be reached for comment. 

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 proprietor of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Legislation handed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties worth greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs to be able to fund the Ukrainian conflict effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has but to cross the Senate.

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

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