MANHATTAN (CN) — Federal agents are seeking the forfeiture of a $300 million yacht belonging to Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, according to a complaint filed Monday in the Southern District of New York.
Investigators say Kerimov was maintaining the 348-foot Amadea yacht, currently docked in Southern California, in violation of sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. According to Monday’s complaint, the Russian oligarch bought the vessel in 2021, then made hundreds of thousands of dollars in upkeep payments through U.S. financial institutions.
“Such transactions violated the sanctions imposed under [the International Emergency Economic Powers Act],” the complaint says. “The Amadea could not remain a functional vessel without such transactions. Ongoing payments for maintenance, fuel, and fees are necessary for the operation and continued upkeep of the Amadea, a luxury superyacht.”
Now, the U.S. is seeking ownership of the Amadea, based on Kerimov’s sanctions violations. Should federal prosecutors succeed, the boat will likely be sold, and its proceeds sent to Ukraine to abet the country's ongoing war efforts against Russia.
The Amadea was seized in Fiji last year at the request of the United States, which was ramping up its efforts to punish those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to the Moscow-led invasion of Ukraine.
Kerimov, a politician and gold baron worth more than $10 billion, was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in both 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s interventions in Syria and Ukraine, respectively. Kerimov has ties not only to Vladimir Putin, but also to the controversial head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.
While federal prosecutors say Kerimov has control over the yacht, there is some dispute as to the true owner of the Amadea.
According to a Monday news release from the Justice Department, Kerimov utilized “a series of transfers between shell companies designed to conceal his ownership” in order to gain beneficial ownership of the yacht around September 2021.
“Beginning in October 2021 through its seizure, Kerimov and/or his family members took multiple trips aboard the Amadea, planned extensive renovations to the Amadea, made long-term plans for the Amadea’s travel schedule, and assumed all liability and responsibility for the Amadea’s upkeep,” the Justice Department continues.
However, the ship’s title holders, Millemarin Investments, argued in 2022 to a Fiji court that the Amadea wasn’t owned by Kerimov at all. The firm instead claimed that Eduard Khudainatov, another Russian oligarch, but one who isn't subject to U.S. sanctions, owned the yacht.
In Monday’s complaint, federal prosecutors claim that Millemarin in 2021 attempted to make it appear as if a third Russian oligarch, Evgeny Kochman, actually owned the boat. But the complaint claims that Kochman “did not have the means” and “was instead putting himself forward as a straw owner on behalf of Kerimov.”
The Justice Department brought Monday’s case through its KlepoCapture task force, which is dedicated to combating sanctions evasions from Russian oligarchs following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
“The filing of this complaint exemplifies that the United States takes sanction evasion seriously and will use all tools at its disposal to ensure that sanctioned individuals are held accountable for their crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York.
Williams thanked the task force and prosecutors in his office "for their important work holding Russian oligarchs responsible and aiding our allies in Ukraine.”
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