Topline
Fiji has handed the U.S. a $300 million superyacht Washington claims is tied to billionaire gold magnate Suleimon Kerimov, the country’s top prosecutor said on Tuesday, ending a protracted legal battle over the vessel as Western nations pursue Russia’s elite over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The superyacht Amadea docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 13, 2022.
Key Facts
Fiji’s Supreme Court ruled that the Amadea, a 348-foot superyacht seized in May at the request of U.S. authorities, must leave Fijian waters.
The court said it was a waste of money for the country to maintain the yacht while its registered owners, Millermarin Investments, contested U.S. claims it is beneficially owned by Kerimov, who is targeted by international sanctions over suspected ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The court, which said the Amadea sailed into Fiji’s waters without any permits as a likely attempt “to evade prosecution by the United States,” dismissed a request to delay enforcing the U.S. warrant from the yacht’s lawyer, Feizal Haniff.
Fiji’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, said the decision means the court has “accepted the validity of the U.S. warrant.”
“The Amadea has been handed over to U.S. authorities and will now leave Fiji,” Pryde added.
Key Background
The decision by Fiji’s Supreme Court marks a victory for the U.S. and Western countries as they crack down on the assets of Russia’s elite sanctioned over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The case illustrates one of the key problems authorities face in targeting the assets of Russia’s ultra-wealthy individuals: transparency. The true ownership of assets like yachts and jets are often obscured behind layers upon layers of complex legal and corporate structures designed to minimize taxes and hide ownership. This is why courts often use the term “beneficial owner” rather than “owner” on its own, tracing these structures back to the source. This opacity can be a useful tool to stall proceedings or evade sanctions entirely (despite decades of trying, Forbes has not been able to pin down exactly how much Putin is worth). This muddled ownership is what the U.S. claims is being exploited with the Amadea. Haniff claims it is actually owned by Eduard Khudainatov, another wealthy Russian but who has not been targeted by sanctions and who the FBI argues is being used to “conceal the true beneficial owners.”
Big Number
$14.5 billion. That’s the estimated net worth of Kerimov and his family, according to Forbes’ real-time tracker. The majority of Kerimov’s fortune comes from his 76% stake in Polyus, Russia’s biggest gold producer.
Further Reading
Russian Oligarch Suleiman Kerimov’s $300 Million Yacht Seized In Fiji, U.S. Says (Forbes)
A Guide To All The Outrageous Mansions And Estates Owned By Sanctioned Russian Billionaires (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/06/07/fiji-hands-us-seized-300-million-russian-superyacht-owned-by-oligarch/