Fiji’s high court has paved the way for U.S. authorities to seize a $325 million superyacht it says belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. The court on Tuesday granted a bid to register a U.S. seizure warrant for the Amadea, 21 days after the vessel arrived in Fiji only to be immediately detained amid U.S. efforts to confiscate assets owned by sanctioned Russian individuals. The U.S. Justice Department has said the luxury vessel is owned by Vladimir Putin ally Kerimov, who has been sanctioned since 2018, though lawyers for the superyacht’s registered owners, Millemarin Investment, claim it is actually owned by unsanctioned Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov. The court granted the defense lawyers time to appeal the decision, meaning the 350-foot vessel—equipped with its own large helipad and a live lobster tank—will stay put for now.
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