The US wants a Russian oligarch’s seized $300 million superyacht …
The £300 million superyacht Amadea, which US authorities seized and say is owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, seen here docked in Honolulu, Hawaii.Reuters
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The US has filed a civil forfeiture case against a £300 million superyacht it alleges is owned by a Russian oligarch.
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The 348-foot luxury ship Amadea was bought by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov in September 2021, years after he was sanctioned, US officials say.
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The superyacht was seized in Fiji in 2022 and features an infinity pool and a helicopter landing pad.
Federal attorneys want to have a Russian oligarch's £300 million superyacht forfeited to the US, over a year after it was first seized by Fiji authorities after the war with Ukraine broke out. US Attorney Damian Williams filed a civil forfeiture complaint against the Amadea, an extravagant 348-foot-long luxury ship that US officials allege is owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The Amadea features a helicopter pad on its foredeck, a mosaic-lined swimming pool at the rear, fire pits, and an indoor movie theater, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters[1].
Kerimov was initially sanctioned in 2018 over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Williams wrote in court filings. Yet in 2021, he worked out a deal to buy the yacht through a series of corporate entities to obscure who owned the vessel and violated sanctions by having more than £1 million in maintenance work done on the ship, the court documents allege. The yacht was initially seized by Fiji authorities after it raced into the Pacific Ocean when the war with Ukraine broke out, according to a BBC report[2] published in November 2022.
US prosecutor Andrew Adams told the BBC that authorities noticed the vessel "scrambling out of waters where we would normally be able to seize it" just weeks after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. "Essentially, the boat tried to go dark," Adams said in an interview. The BBC reported that US officials believed the ship was going to race for Vladivostok, a Russian port near North Korea, when it was seized in Fiji.
The ship was then seized by the US Department of Justice and moved to California where it remains docked. Story continues Lawyers for a separate Russian oligarch claiming to own the yacht -- Eduard Khudainatov, who hasn't been sanctioned -- filed legal papers in Fiji court seeking to have the boat turned back over.
Khudainatov's lawyers told Reuters[3] that they've filed a lawsuit in the US as well seeking to get the superyacht back.
A representative for Khudainatov's lawyers referred Insider to the filing.
Read the original article on Business Insider[4]
References
- ^ according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters (www.charterworld.com)
- ^ according to a BBC report (www.bbc.com)
- ^ told Reuters (www.reuters.com)
- ^ Business Insider (www.businessinsider.com)