U.S. Seeks Forfeiture of Russian Oligarch’s Superyacht ‘Amadea’ Docked in San Diego

The Justice Division on Monday sought the forfeiture of a $300 million superyacht docked in San Diego that’s believed to be managed by billionaire Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, who’s below U.S. sanctions.

Authorities in Fiji seized the 348-foot Amadea pursuant to a U.S. warrant in Could 2022 as Washington ramped up sanctions enforcement in opposition to individuals near Russian President Vladimir Putin, to stress Moscow to halt its struggle in opposition to Ukraine.

Monday’s grievance, filed in federal courtroom in Manhattan, kicks off a doubtlessly lengthy judicial course of wherein the US would search possession of the yacht, after which possible public sale it and switch proceeds to Ukraine.

Kerimov and his household are price $10.7 billion, based on Forbes journal.

He amassed a lot of his wealth by way of a stake in Russian gold producer Polyus. Kerimov was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Division in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine. These sanctions barred Kerimov from accessing the U.S. monetary system.

Polyus was sanctioned in Could 2023. The corporate stated the sanctions have been unfounded.

In Monday’s grievance, the U.S. Division of Justice stated Kerimov purchased the Amadea in 2021, after which violated U.S. sanctions by making greater than $1 million in upkeep funds by way of U.S. monetary establishments.

The yacht’s house owners could have the prospect to contest that declare in courtroom.

Kerimov couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.

Attorneys for the Amadea’s proprietor, Millemarin Investments, advised a Fiji courtroom final yr that the Amadea was owned not by Kerimov however by former Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oligarch who has not been sanctioned.

Khudainatov shouldn’t be named in Monday’s grievance.

U.S. prosecutors stated a Sept. 14, 2021, transaction transferring possession of the Amadea from Millemarin to a newly included firm, Errigan Marine, was designed to make it seem that Evgeny Kochman, the president of sanctioned yacht dealer Imperial Yachts, owned the yacht.

Prosecutors stated Kochman was, the truth is, solely a “straw proprietor.”

Khudainatov sued the US on Monday in federal courtroom in San Diego to launch the yacht, based on a duplicate of the grievance supplied by his lawyer, Adam Ford. Reuters couldn’t instantly find the authorized papers on-line.

“The Amadea was seized upon false premises pushed by political motivation,” Ford stated in a press release.