Courtroom 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 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 USA, 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. As an alternative, he argued in courtroom that company 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 couldn't be reached for comment. The company intends to attraction Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, in line with local reviews and the maritime analytics website Marine Visitors. Soon after, a federal judge authorized a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's high prosecutor moved to stop the ship from leaving.

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

On April 4, the company announced 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 passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would enable the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties price greater than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs so as to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has but to go the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury homes and different ill-begotten gains," Biden said on April 28 on the White House.

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