ALBAWABA – US Federal Prosecutes made a court filing last Friday asking a US District Judge to permit the auction of Amadea, a $300 million yacht seized from sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, holding a net worth of $9.2 billion, due to high maintenance costs ramping up to $7 million a year to maintain its value.
Amadea, a 348-foot-long yacht featuring a movie theater, a swimming pool, fire pits, and a helicopter landing pad, was seized in Fiji with a US warrant back in April 2022 according to Business Insider, after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Kerimov in 2014 and 2018 due to Russian aggression on Syria and Ukraine.
The move to auction the yacht is being legally fought by another Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov, previously CEO of Russian oil and gas firm Rosneft, who claims he is the owner of the yacht and demands its ownership, given the fact he is not under sanctions of the US, with his legal team telling Bloomberg that their client is willing to pay back the maintenance costs in return for the yacht seized unlawfully.
U.S. authorities ask court to allow sale of Amadea yacht linked to billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, Bloomberg
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 13, 2024
The Amadea was arrested in Fiji at the request of the U.S. in April 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In June of the same year, Fiji's Supreme Court… pic.twitter.com/fkPps7c5qa
The court filing argues that there is compelling reason to save the government and taxpayers from footing these expenses because the carrying costs for the Amadea are significantly high, costing the general public $600 thousand a month to maintain the boat, adding that Khudainatov is attempting to cover Kerimov’s role, as reported by Reuters, arguing that talks with the billionaire to pay for upkeep have failed to reach an agreement.
Khudainatov has until Feb. 23 to respond to the prosecutors’ requests, who claim that Kerimov used the American financial system to pay $1 million in maintenance costs, breaking the US Sanctions Law, with Reuters adding that if the US succeeds in auctioning the boat, the funds are potentially going to proceed to Ukraine in the form of aids to support it through the ongoing war with Russia.
