US seeks to seize superyacht in Fiji from suspected Russian owner

Authorities have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to invasion of Ukraine

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The United States is seeking to seize a superyacht suspected of belonging to a Russian oligarch that is docked in the Pacific island nation of Fiji.

The luxury vessel - the Amadea - is widely believed to be owned by Suleiman Kerimov, sanctioned by the United States and European Union, a restraining order filed on Tuesday by Fiji’s director of public prosecutions showed.

The vessel arrived in Fiji a week ago after leaving Mexico 18 days earlier and crossing the Pacific.

Authorities around the world have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Fiji’s director of public prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, filed an application in the country’s High Court seeking to prevent the Amadea from leaving its waters.

The application requested “the motor yacht Amadea be restrained from leaving Fijian waters until the finalisation of an application to register a warrant to seize the property and (ii) that a US warrant to seize the Amadea be registered”.

The US embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but last week said “the United States is committed to finding and seizing the assets of the oligarchs who have supported the Russian Federation’s brutal, unprovoked war of choice against Ukraine”.

The court has not yet heard the application.

A superyacht agent in Fiji acting for the Amadea told Reuters last week the vessel’s lawyers were contesting that Suleiman was the owner.

Registration records viewed by the news service show the yacht is registered to a company in the Cayman Islands.

Kerimov was also sanctioned by the United States in 2018 and 2014 in response to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine.