SUPERYACHT SEIZED FROM OLIGARCH SAILS INTO S.D.
U.S. capture of Russian billionaire’s $300 million boat part of effort to enforce sanctions
A $300 million superyacht the U.S. seized from a Russian oligarch in Fiji last month sailed into San Diego Bay on Monday.
Known as the Amadea, it is 348feet long and features a helipad and a swimming pool. The Department of Justice says it was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, an investor Forbes says is worth $14.5 billion.
It’s not clear how long the seized boat will stay in San Diego. Justice Department officials said the plan is to eventually sell it off.
“The successful seizure and
transport of Amadea would not have been possible without extraordinary cooperation from our foreign partners in the global effort to enforce U.S. sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine,” the Department of Justice said in a statement Monday.
In 2018, the U.S. sanctioned Kerimov,
who was accused of money laundering related to the purchase of French villas. The European Union sanctioned him in March, The Associated Press reported.
That same month, the Department of Justice created Task Force KleptoCapture to enforce the sanctions the U.S. and its foreign allies imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Two months later, on May 5, the Department of Justice announced it had seized the Amadea in Fiji. “Today’s action should make clear that there is no hiding place for the assets of individuals who violate U.S. law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said that day.
After winning a court battle in Fiji — there was a dispute over the yacht’s actual owner — the U.S. sailed the ship from the South Pacific island on June 7.
The superyacht stopped in Hawaii last week before heading into San Diego, sailing under the San-Diego-Coronado Bridge on its way to its berth Monday.