Fiji authorities seize Russia-owned superyacht as part of sanctions crackdown News
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Fiji authorities seize Russia-owned superyacht as part of sanctions crackdown

A Fiji court Tuesday issued an order to seize a Russian-owned superyacht after an application was made to register a US warrant to seize the vessel.

The Amadea arrived in the island nation three weeks ago and was impounded by police following a filing in the High Court of Fiji by Christopher Pryde, director of public prosecutions, to restrain the superyacht from leaving Fijian waters. That same filing requested that a US warrant to seize the Amadea be registered.

The luxury vessel is believed by US authorities to be owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, who has been sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union in relation to Russian military actions in Syria and Ukraine. The registered owner of the 350-foot yacht, Millemarin Investments, has denied that Kerimov is the ultimate owner. They claim it is owned by a different oligarch, Eduard Khudainatov, who has not been sanctioned.

Millemarin Investments has filed an application with the High Court for an interim stay on the decision to seize the Amadea pending an appeal. The court has given the director of public prosecutions until May 5 to respond to the request for a stay and has said that it would make its decision on the stay application by May 6.

The warrant, issued by the US government, is part of the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, which was launched on March 2 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The task force is an interagency operation to enforce sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures against Russia.

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