Title: US Seeks Forfeiture of $300 Million Superyacht Controlled by Russian Oligarch Under Sanctions
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States has initiated legal proceedings to seize a $300 million superyacht allegedly controlled by Russian billionaire oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, who is currently under U.S. sanctions.
This move comes as U.S. authorities in Fiji confiscated the 348-foot (106-meter) Amadea yacht in May 2022, following a U.S. warrant. The action was part of the increased enforcement of sanctions against individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the aim of pressuring Moscow to halt its war against Ukraine.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, the United States has launched an effort to claim ownership of the Amadea, currently docked in San Diego, which would then likely be auctioned off and the proceeds transferred to Ukraine.
According to Forbes magazine, Kerimov and his family have a net worth of $10.7 billion. Much of his wealth was accumulated through a stake in Russian gold producer Polyus. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Kerimov in 2014 and 2018 due to Russia’s activities in Syria and Ukraine, effectively barring him from accessing the U.S. financial system.
Notably, Polyus itself was sanctioned in May 2023, a move disputed by the company that labeled the sanctions as unfounded.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges in the complaint that Kerimov purchased the Amadea in 2021, subsequently violating U.S. sanctions by making maintenance payments exceeding $1 million through U.S. financial institutions.
Kerimov and his legal representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Lawyers representing Millemarin Investments, a company asserting ownership of the yacht, have previously contested claims of Kerimov’s control over the Amadea. During a hearing in a Fiji court last year, they argued that former Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oligarch who remains unsanctioned, owned the vessel.
Although Khudainatov is not named in Monday’s complaint, U.S. prosecutors have revealed that a transaction on September 14, 2021, transferred ownership of the Amadea from Millemarin to Errigan Marine, a newly incorporated company. The prosecutors maintained that this change in ownership was an attempt to portray Evgeny Kochman, the president of the sanctioned yacht broker Imperial Yachts, as the yacht’s owner. However, they argued that Kochman was merely a “straw owner.”
Imperial Yachts has released a statement refuting the allegations made by the DOJ, asserting that neither the company nor Kochman engaged in any illegal acts.
In response to the legal proceedings, Khudainatov has filed a lawsuit against the United States in federal court in San Diego, seeking the release of the Amadea. His lawyer, Adam Ford, stated that the yacht’s seizure was based on false premises driven by political motivations.
The case now sets the stage for a potentially protracted legal battle in which the ownership of the superyacht will be disputed.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)