WASHINGTON, October 23. /TASS/. The United States has filed a civil suit for the confiscation of the Amadea yacht, allegedly belonging to the sanctioned Russian senator Suleiman Kerimov, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

The lawsuit alleges that the yacht was maintained in conditions that violated existing sanctions against the senator and should be confiscated based on violations of the US law.

"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," the statement says.

Authorities in the Republic of Fiji detained the yacht on April 14, 2022 after it entered the state's exclusive economic zone without proper permission. Local law enforcement officers began to find out the name of the owner of the vessel and the home port, stating that, according to preliminary data, the yacht belongs to sanctioned Russian senator Suleiman Kerimov. The US Department of Justice sent a warrant for its seizure, after which the yacht was seized. The arrest was later disputed by Millemarin Investment, which stated that the yacht does not belong to Kerimov, but to the former chairman and general director of Rosneft, Eduard Khudainatov. However, US authorities argued that Khudainatov, who was not under sanctions, was simply being used to hide the identity of the yacht's true owner.

Since May 6, 2022, 10 hearings were held in the courts of various instances in the Republic of Fiji, during which the authorities tried to determine the future fate of the vessel, either allowing it to leave the territorial waters of the country, or detaining the yacht again. The end to this case was put only on June 7, 2022, when the Fijian Supreme Court allowed representatives of the US Department of Justice to take the yacht.