The superyacht Amadea that was owned by Russian oligarch Sueiman Kerimov, was spotted arriving in Hawaii, flying an American flag on Thursday.
Reports revealed that the $325 million vessel was seen sailing to Honolulu Harbor following a legal battle in Fuji which allowed the United States to take control of the luxury boat.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation claimed that the agency found that the Amadea was owned by Kerimov following a search warrant in Fiji that turned up emails revealing that his children were on the ship this year.
The FBI also added that Kerimov bought the Cayman Island-flagged vessel, about the length of a football field and features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad, last year through various shell companies.
Seized superyacht owned by Russian oligarch arrives in Hawaii flying American flaghttps://t.co/gHzZBWF1hA
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 17, 2022
In a report published by the Associated Press, the lawyer who represented the company who appeared to be the owner of the luxury yacht on paper, stated that a different wealthy Russian owns the boat who, unlike Kerimov, is not facing sanctions.
In addition, more search warrants were also obtained by the U.S government permitting them to seize Boeing and Gulfstream jets which were owned by another Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich.
However, Abramovich obtained the jets, a Boeing 786-8 Dreamliner jet and Gulfstream G650ER, by flaunting the U.S. sanctions. Without an export license, a pair of U.S.-made planes flew to Russia following the U.S. attempt to seize them.
Reports claimed that Abramovich is being linked to the jets through a complicated series of shell companies in the United States and across the globe.
The Boeing is reportedly estimated to be worth an estimated $350 million after customizations, which is still in Dubai.
Meanwhile, the Gulfstream, which is in Moscow, is worth roughly $60 million.
The luxury yacht was seized by the U.S government amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The movement was said to be in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Just in April, the Biden administration called for the Congress for additional legal authority to make it easier for them to seize Russian government and oligarch assets and transfer the proceeds to Ukraine.
If enacted, the proposed measures would “establish new authorities for the forfeiture of property linked to Russian kleptocracy, allow the government to link the proceeds to support Ukraine, and further strengthen related law enforcement tools,” the White House claimed in a statement.
