Fiji Prosecutor General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has requested the country's High Court to ban the Amadea superyacht, presumably owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, from leaving Fiji waters, as well as allow registration of a US request to confiscate the vessel, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2022) Fiji Prosecutor General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has requested the country's High Court to ban the Amadea superyacht, presumably owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, from leaving Fiji waters, as well as allow registration of a US request to confiscate the vessel, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.
According to the office, the ban on leaving the country's waters should remain in force until the registration of the warrant for the yacht confiscation is completed.
On Thursday, local media reported that the Amadea superyacht, presumably owned by Kerimov, entered the port of Lautoka on the Fiji Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Fiji Police later confiscated the yacht. The yacht could have entered the country's economic zone without proper permission from the relevant authorities.
Suleiman Kerimov is one of the richest people in Russia. According to Forbes, in 2021, Kerimov's fortune grew by almost 60% to $15.8 billion. On March 15, he was included in the list of Russian businessmen who fell under the restrictive measures of the EU in connection with the special operation in Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response, the West rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes airspace closures and restrictive measures targeting numerous Russian officials and entities, media and financial institutions.
