Authorities in Fiji have seized a Russian-owned superyacht under a U.S. warrant as part of the sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The seizure comes two days after the Suva High Court said it had granted the order to seize the $300 million superyacht Amadea, which U.S. authorities say is owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
“This ruling should make clear that there is no hiding place for the assets of individuals who violate U.S. laws. And there is no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on May 5.
“The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine,” he added.
Kerimov's empire is built mainly on Russia's vast natural resources. He prospered during the four-year presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, pulling off a $24 billion merger that put his firm Uralkali in control of 40 percent of the $20 billion global potash market.
The boat was impounded by police three weeks ago after arriving in the Pacific Ocean nation from Mexico.
Local media in Fiji have reported that lawyers for the 107-meter yacht's registered owner, Millemarin Investments, have denied it is ultimately owned by Kerimov. Instead, they said in court that it is owned by another Russian oligarch, Eduard Khudainatov, the former president of oil giant Rosneft, who has not been sanctioned by the United States.
Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine and the war that has subsequently followed has sparked several rounds of crippling sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and many other allied countries against Russia, President Vladimir Putin, and many of the companies and billionaire oligarchs around him.