A victory in Fiji’s supreme court Tuesday has allowed the U.S. government to seize a $325 million yacht from the foreign port that was reportedly purchase last year by a Russian billionaire and government official.
Russian Suleiman Kerimov, who according to the Associated Press last year bought the yacht, Amadea, has yet to comment on the seizure.
This legal case is among a series of U.S. efforts worldwide to take Russia oligarchy assets to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
The United States also seized two aircraft Monday, worth a total $400 million, from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Who owns the yacht is unclear, with Kerimov’s lawyers saying it doesn’t belong to their client, despite him having bought it last year.
Paperwork indicates the legal owner is Eduard Khudainatov, who owns another yacht, the “Scheherazade,” and has been linked to Putin.
Billionaire Kerimov has been under U.S. sanctions for four years. Khudainatov is not under such sanctions.
Chief Justice Kamal Kumar, Fiji’s highest judicial officer, says it’s likelihood that the yacht will be appealed in his country.
The super yacht being docked in a Fiji harbor was reportedly costing the country’s government a lot of money. But Kumar said that situation had no bearing on the court ruling.
“The fact that U.S. authorities have undertaken to pay costs incurred by the Fijian government is totally irrelevant,” he told the wire service.
He also said the Amadea “sailed into Fiji waters without any permit and most probably to evade prosecution by the United States of America.”
Where the U.S government is moving the super yacht is unknown at this time.
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Author: Just the News
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