(Newser)
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The United States has won the latest round of a legal battle to seize a $325-million Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji, with the case now appearing headed for the Pacific nation’s top court. Fiji’s Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed an appeal by Feizal Haniff, who represents the company that legally owns the superyacht Amadea. Haniff had argued the US had no jurisdiction under Fiji’s mutual assistance laws to seize the vessel, at least until a court sorted out who really owned the Amadea, the AP reports. Haniff says he now plans to take the case to Fiji’s Supreme Court and will apply for a court order to stop US agents sailing the Amadea from Fiji before the appeal is heard.
The US argues that its investigation has found that behind various fronts, the Cayman Islands-flagged luxury yacht is really owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, who has an estimated net worth of $16 billion. The FBI linked the Amadea to the Kerimov family through their alleged use of code names while aboard and the purchase of items like a pizza oven and a spa bed. The 348-foot vessel, about the length of a football field, features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool, and and a large helipad.
Haniff argues the owner is another wealthy Russian who doesn’t face sanctions: Eduard Khudainatov, who is also—possibly on paper only—the owner of a superyacht linked to Vladimir Putin. The US claims Kerimov secretly bought the Amadea last year through shell companies. The case has highlighted the thorny legal ground the US finds itself on as it tries to seize assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. Those intentions are welcomed by many governments and citizens who oppose the war in Ukraine, but some actions are raising questions about how far US jurisdiction extends.
(Read more Russia sanctions stories.)
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