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Super yacht »Amadea«: Not even in the most remote corner of the world
Photo: LEON LORD / AFP
The oligarch superyacht Amadea, which has been seized in Fiji, has been handed over to the US authorities after a legal tug of war.
The High Court in the capital Suva decided on Tuesday to grant a request from Washington to confiscate the ship.
The court rejected the attempt by the defense to take action against the decision on Friday, according to a statement from the judicial authorities.
The »Amadea« is said to belong to the sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov.
The case made international headlines.
The German-built, 106 meter long yacht is currently still in the port of Lautoka in the South Pacific state.
Representatives of the FBI, the US Marshals and the American Coast Guard were there to receive the »Amadea«.
A spokesman for the US Department of Justice told Australia's ABC: "The ship will be brought to the United States and will be moored at a port appropriate to the size of the ship."
US Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco previously said the department "kept an eye on any yacht that was bought with dirty money."
Russian oligarchs could not even hide in the most remote corners of the world.
Kerimov is considered a confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has been on the US sanctions list for money laundering since 2018, but was also sanctioned by the European Union and other countries in the course of the Ukraine war.
Because of the initially unclear ownership situation, the luxury yacht, which cost around 300 million euros, had been stranded in Fiji since mid-April after an 18-day journey from Mexico across the Pacific.
The official owner is a company called Millemarin Investment Ltd.
registered.
However, there were different statements about who is behind it.
Millemarin lawyers say the ship belongs to Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov, who is not on the sanctions lists.
mik/dpa-AFX
