The United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint against a $300 million superyacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. The yacht was seized by the United States in 2022.
The complaint claims that Kerimov and his heirs violated penalties by enhancing and maintaining the superyacht. The Amadea yacht is subject to forfeiture due to offenses under U.S. law, such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and money laundering. In a civil forfeiture process, the burden of proof rests with the government, and the proceedings regarding this property and its claims are still open.
"The United States brings this action today after a careful and painstaking effort to develop the necessary evidence showing Suleiman Kerimov's clear interest in the Amadea and the repeated misuse of the U.S. financial system to support and maintain the yacht for his benefit," said Michael Khoo, Task Force KleptoCapture co- director. "Getting to this point required extensive cooperation across the U.S. government and with foreign partners. It underscores our resolve to undertake challenging, cross-border investigations and to send a message to Russian oligarchs and their enablers: if you flout the rule of law, you can expect to pay real and meaningful consequences."
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said that the filing of this lawsuit shows that the United States takes sanction evasion seriously and will utilize all instruments at its disposal to ensure that sanctioned people are held accountable for their crimes. "I thank our partners with Task Force KleptoCapture as well as the dedicated prosecutors of this office for their important work holding Russian oligarchs responsible and aiding our allies in Ukraine."
Kerimov was designated as a Specially Designated National under IEEPA on April 6, 2018, after the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) determined that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine posed an exceptional risk to U.S. national security and foreign policy. It was established that Kerimov worked for the Russian Federation government. Kerimov never asked the OFAC for permission to conduct any transactions, including those involving the yacht. In September 2021, Kerimov made plans to buy the luxury yacht Amadea and signed a contract to acquire ownership rights to the yacht before making full payment. In order to hide his true identity, he purchased the yacht through a series of shell corporations.
The United States government has taken possession of the Amadea in San Diego based on a seizure warrant issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Mutual legal support between the United States and the Republic of Fiji led to a court order for the vessel's seizure.
