Russian oligarch attempts to retrieve yacht from under U.S. sanctions
Russian oligarch trying to reclaim a yacht under U.S. sanctions (photo: ruyachts.com)
Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov is attempting to reclaim his 106-meter yacht Amadea, which is currently under U.S. sanctions, through intermediaries, according to Reuters.
Former CEO of the Russian company Rosneft, Eduard Khudainatov, claimed that he supposedly owns the $300 million yacht, seized by U.S. authorities last year as part of sanctions against Russian oligarchs close to the Kremlin. He stated that he has filed a corresponding lawsuit in a U.S. court.
Thus, Khudainatov is attempting to convince the U.S. Department of Justice that the seized yacht is unlawfully in the United States and should be returned to him as the rightful owner.
In written testimony filed in Fiji, where the yacht Amadea was confiscated in May of last year based on a U.S. warrant, it is stated that Khudainatov was used as a nominee owner to conceal the true owner of the yacht.
U.S. prosecutors, on the other hand, have claimed that Kerimov, on whom the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions in 2014 and 2018 for Russia's activities in Syria and Ukraine, owns the yacht through a series of nominee companies.
Previously, it was reported that the U.S. is seeking the confiscation of the superyacht belonging to Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. The proceeds from the sale may be directed to Ukraine. The Fijian authorities confiscated the yacht Amadea based on a U.S. warrant in May 2022 when Washington tightened sanctions against individuals close to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
After the arrest, the U.S. took the yacht from Fiji within hours to ensure that it would not be subject to any further legal claims. Representatives of the U.S. executive service changed the flag on the yacht and took it to New Zealand.
