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Superyacht seized by U.S. from Russian billionaire arrives in San Diego Bay

June 27, 2022 / 3:40 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A $325 million superyacht seized by the United States from a sanctioned Russian oligarch arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday.

The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) Amadea flew an American flag as it sailed past the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway and under the Coronado Bridge.

"After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers), the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The FBI linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, and the vessel became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the vessel last year through various shell companies.

But Justice Department  officials had been stymied  by a legal effort to contest the American seizure warrant and by a yacht crew that refused to sail for the U.S. American officials won a legal battle in Fiji to take the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht earlier this month. 

The Amadea made a stop in Honolulu Harbor en route to the U.S. mainland. The Amadea boasts  luxury features  such as a helipad, mosaic-tiled pool, lobster tank and a pizza oven, nestled in a décor of "delicate marble and stones" and "precious woods and delicate silk fabrics," according to court documents.

"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 Justice Department said.

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Russian Oligarch's Seized Yacht Sails into San Diego Harbor

The yacht amadea, which boasts a helipad and swimming pool, was seized earlier this month in fiji., by eric s. page and mari payton • published june 27, 2022 • updated on june 27, 2022 at 6:48 pm.

A $325 million 350-foot yacht owned by a sanctioned "beneficiary of Russian corruption" was put into port in San Diego Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Officials with the DOJ said the Amadea, which was seized in connection to the department's KleptoCapture campaign undertaken in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, is owned by Suleiman Kerimov a Russian billionaire.

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The yacht, which boasts a helipad and swimming pool, was seized earlier this month in Fiji.

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“Last month, I warned that the department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money,” Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in May. “This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide – not even in the remotest part of the world. We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

According to CNBC , Kerimov "was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2018 for allegedly profiting from the Russian government through corruption and its illegal annexation of Crimea in Ukraine in 2014."

The Amadea sailed under the Coronado Bridge at around 8 a.m. on Monday before heading into a berth on the San Diego waterfront.

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“ After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles, the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale," read a statement, in part, released Monday by the DOJ.

The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the vessel last year through various shell companies.

The U.S. won a legal battle in Fiji to take the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht earlier this month. The Amadea made a stop in Honolulu Harbor en route to the U.S. mainland.

After the yacht arrived in San Diego, John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor, told NBC 7 that he thinks the U.S. government hopes moves like the Amadea's seizure are efforts to apply pressure to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Incredibly, the owners of assets like the Amadea may just walk away rather than fight ther seizure.

"A lot of times people that own these objects … they don’t want to get involved," Kirby said. "For whatever reason, they don’t want people digging around in their life. And so sometimes they just let it go," adding that such seizures are "easy a lot of times because you often have bad actors that don’t want to come forward and don’t want to claim the yacht, don’t want to litigate about it, so it could go into default judgment."

The Associated Press contributed to this report — Ed.

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Local News and Opinion for San Diego

U.S. Seeks Forfeiture of Russian Oligarch’s Superyacht ‘Amadea’ Docked in San Diego

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The Justice Department on Monday sought the forfeiture of a $300 million superyacht docked in San Diego that is believed to be controlled by billionaire Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov , who is under U.S. sanctions.

Authorities in Fiji seized the 348-foot Amadea pursuant to a U.S. warrant in May 2022 as Washington ramped up sanctions enforcement against people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to pressure Moscow to halt its war against Ukraine.

Monday’s complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, kicks off a potentially long judicial process in which the United States would seek ownership of the yacht, and then likely auction it and transfer proceeds to Ukraine.

Kerimov and his family are worth $10.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

He amassed much of his wealth through a stake in Russian gold producer Polyus. Kerimov was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s activities in Syria and Ukraine. Those sanctions barred Kerimov from accessing the U.S. financial system.

Polyus was sanctioned in May 2023. The company said the sanctions were unfounded.

In Monday’s complaint, the U.S. Department of Justice said Kerimov bought the Amadea in 2021, and then violated U.S. sanctions by making more than $1 million in maintenance payments through U.S. financial institutions.

The yacht’s owners will have the chance to contest that claim in court.

Kerimov could not immediately be reached for comment.

Lawyers for the Amadea’s owner, Millemarin Investments, told a Fiji court last year that the Amadea was owned not by Kerimov but by former Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oligarch who has not been sanctioned.

Khudainatov is not named in Monday’s complaint.

U.S. prosecutors said a Sept. 14, 2021, transaction transferring ownership of the Amadea from Millemarin to a newly incorporated company, Errigan Marine, was designed to make it appear that Evgeny Kochman, the president of sanctioned yacht broker Imperial Yachts, owned the yacht.

Prosecutors said Kochman was, in fact, only a “straw owner.”

Khudainatov sued the United States on Monday in federal court in San Diego to release the yacht, according to a copy of the complaint provided by his lawyer, Adam Ford. Reuters could not immediately locate the legal papers online.

“The Amadea was seized upon false premises driven by political motivation,” Ford said in a statement.

Superyacht feds say was seized from Russian oligarch sails into San Diego

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A $300-million superyacht the U.S. seized from an alleged Russian oligarch in Fiji last month sailed into San Diego Bay on Monday morning.

Known as the Amadea, it is 348 feet long and features a helipad and swimming pool. The Department of Justice says it was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a gold investor Forbes says is worth $14.5 billion .

It’s not clear how long the seized boat will stay in San Diego. Justice 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.

The U.S. sanctioned Kerimov, who was accused of money laundering related to the purchase of French villas, in 2018. The European Union sanctioned him in March 2022, 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,” Atty. Gen. 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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Russian superyacht seized by US arrives in San Diego Bay

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A $325 million superyacht seized by the United States from a sanctioned Russian oligarch arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday.

The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) Amadea flew an American flag as it sailed past the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway and under the Coronado Bridge.

The Department of Justice said the Amadea was safely docked after a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) “and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale.”

The FBI linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, and the vessel became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the vessel last year through various shell companies.

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The U.S. won a legal battle in Fiji to take the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht earlier this month. The Amadea made a stop in Honolulu Harbor en route to the U.S. mainland.

“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 Justice Department said.

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News | Superyacht feds say was seized from Russian…

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News | Superyacht feds say was seized from Russian oligarch sails into San Diego

The u.s. took control of the 348-foot boat in fiji on may 5.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

SAN DIEGO, CA - JUNE 27: A Navy boat speeds by the $300 million dollar, 348-foot luxury yacht Amadea, belonging to Suleiman Kerimov, a sanctioned Oligarch and beneficiary of Russian corruption as it sailed into San Diego Bay on Monday, June 27, 2022 in San Diego, CA. The United States announced the seizure in Fiji of the ship in May. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

SAN DIEGO, CA - JUNE 27: The $300 million dollar, 348-foot luxury yacht Amadea, belonging to Suleiman Kerimov, a sanctioned Oligarch and beneficiary of Russian corruption sailed into San Diego Bay on Monday, June 27, 2022 in San Diego, CA. The United States announced the seizure in Fiji of the ship in May. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Known as the Amadea, it is 348-feet long, and features a helipad and a swimming pool. The U.S. Department of Justice says it was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a gold 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.

The U.S. sanctioned Kerimov in 2018, who was accused of money laundering related to the purchase of French villas. The European Union sanctioned him in March 2022, 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.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Russian oligarch's yacht costs U.S. taxpayers close to $1 million a month

A mega-yacht seized by U.S. authorities from a Russian oligarch is costing the government nearly $1 million a month to maintain, according to new court filings.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking permission to sell a 348-foot yacht called Amadea, which it seized in 2022, alleging that it was owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The government said it wants to sell the $230 million yacht due to the “excessive costs” of maintenance and crew, which it said could total $922,000 a month.

“It is excessive for taxpayers to pay nearly a million dollars per month to maintain the Amadea when these expenses could be reduced to zero through [a] sale,” according to a court filing by U.S. prosecutors on Friday.

The monthly charges for Amadea, which is now docked in San Diego, California, include $600,000 per month in running costs: $360,000 for the crew; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food and other expenses. They also include $144,000 in monthly pro-rata insurance costs and special charges including dry-docking fees, at $178,000, bringing the total to $922,000, according to the filings.

The battle over Amadea and the costs to the government highlight the financial and legal challenges of seizing and selling assets owned by Russian oligarchs after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the European Union should use profits from more than $200 billion of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

Her comments echoed government calls in the spring of 2022 to freeze the yachts, private jets and mansions of Russian billionaires in hopes of putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and raising money for the war effort.

Yet, nearly two years later, the legal process for proving ownership of the Russian assets and selling them has proven to be far more time-consuming and costly. In London, Russian billionaire Eugene Shvidler has waged a court battle over his private jets that were impounded, and Sergei Naumenko has been appealing the detention of his superyacht Phi.

The battle over Amadea began in April 2022, when it was seized in Fiji at the request of the U.S. government, according to the court filings.

Though the U.S. alleges that the yacht is owned by Kerimov, who made his fortune in mining, attorneys for Eduard Khudainatov, an ex-Rosneft CEO who has not been sanctioned, say he owns the yacht, and have sought to take back possession of the vessel.

In court filings, Khudainatov’s attorneys have objected to the U.S. government’s efforts to sell the yacht, saying a rushed sale could lead to a distressed sale price and that the maintenance costs are minor relative to the potential sale value.

Khudainatov’s attorneys refuse to pay the ongoing maintenance costs as long as the government pursues a sale and forfeiture. However, they say their client will reimburse the U.S. government for the more than $20 million already spent to maintain the yacht if it’s returned to its proper owner.

In court papers, the government says Kerimov disguised his ownership of Amadea through a series of shell companies and other owners. They say emails between crew members show Kerimov “was the beneficial owner of the yacht, irrespective of the titleholder of the vessel.”

The emails show that Kerimov and his family ordered several interior improvements of the yacht, including a new pizza oven and spa, and that between 2021 and 2022, when the boat was seized, “there were no guest trips on the Amadea that did not include either Kerimov or his family members,” according to the court filings.

The government also says Kerimov has been trying to sell Amadea for years, so a sale would be in keeping with his intent.

“This is not a situation in which a court would be ordering sale of a precious heirloom that a claimant desperately wishes to keep for sentimental reasons,” the government said in filings.

Even if Amadea were sold quickly, the proceeds wouldn’t automatically go to the government. Under law, the money would be held while Khudainatov and the government continue their battle in court over the ownership and forfeiture.

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Russian superyacht seized by US arrives in San Diego Bay

A $325 million superyacht seized by the United States from a sanctioned Russian oligarch arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday.

The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) Amadea flew an American flag as it sailed past the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway and under the Coronado Bridge.

“After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers), the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The FBI linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, and the vessel became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the vessel last year through various shell companies.

The U.S. won a legal battle in Fiji to take the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht earlier this month. The Amadea made a stop in Honolulu Harbor en route to the U.S. mainland.

“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 Justice Department said.

Russian luxury yacht seized by US arrives in San Diego

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – A $300 million luxury yacht owned by a sectioned Russian oligarch was seized by the United States in Fiji and arrived at NAS North Island on Monday.

The Amadea was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a sanctioned Oligarch and beneficiary of Russian corruption.

The yacht was a target of the Task Force KleptoCaptureto seize the assets of Russian Oligarchs to place pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, according to the Associated Press.

“After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles, the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

"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. We hope to make additional footage of the Amadea available at a later date,” the Justice Department said.

After the Amadea's arrival in San Diego, ABC 10News spoke with author and former CIA Officer Alex Finley, who has written extensively about Russian oligarchs and their penchant for lavish yachts. “They are allowed to loot and steal from Russia as long as they support Putin," Finley said. "And one of the things that they love to spend their money on is yachts.”

Finley says their is competition among the billionaire business moguls that run Russian industry under Putin. That has led to an arms race, so to speak, to build bigger, more luxurious, more tech-savvy yachts. But Finley also says recently unveiled evidence indicates that the yachts are more than just a status symbol. “It looks like there’s some sort of infrastructure around these yachts and services for the yachts that, perhaps, is helping launder some of the money.” Finley says documents released when Amadea was seized included mentioning money laundering as a key reason why the yacht was targeted.

Finley, who has written a series of spy novels since leaving the CIA, says after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a community of amateur sleuths began using crowdsourcing and public navigation tracking apps to try to identify yachts owned by Russian oligarchs, who were, at the same time, trying to move them away from ports where they could be seized. The group rallied around the hashtag #YachtWatch.

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The U.S. seized Russian oligarchs' superyachts. Now, American taxpayers pay the price

Ayesha Rascoe

Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Stephanie Baker, senior writer at Bloomberg News, about the complications involved in seizing and maintaining superyachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires.

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Justice Department Files Civil Forfeiture Complaint Against $300 Million Superyacht

The United States today filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the Southern District of New York against the motor yacht Amadea – a 348-foot luxury vessel reportedly worth more than $300 million and beneficially owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov – which was  seized in 2022  at the request of the United States.

Today’s filing alleges that the superyacht was improved and maintained in violation of applicable sanctions against Kerimov and those acting on his behalf. According to the complaint, the Amadea is forfeitable based on violations of U.S. law, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and money laundering violations. The burden to prove forfeitability in a civil forfeiture proceeding is upon the government, and proceedings involving this property and its claimants remain ongoing.

“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 Task Force KleptoCapture co-director Michael Khoo. “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.”

“The filing of this complaint exemplifies that the United States takes sanction evasion seriously and will use all tools at its disposal to ensure that sanctioned individuals are held accountable for their crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “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.”

According to court documents, on April 6, 2018, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Kerimov as a Specially Designated National (SDN) under IEEPA in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. In imposing sanctions, OFAC determined that Kerimov was an official of the Government of the Russian Federation. As alleged, Kerimov never sought a license from OFAC authorizing any transactions including any transactions in connection with expenditures related to the yacht. On or about Sept. 30, 2022, OFAC redesignated Kerimov as an SDN.

In September 2021, following Kerimov’s designation by OFAC, Kerimov arranged to purchase the superyacht Amadea, contracting with the seller to receive use rights to the vessel even before he completed payment or obtained title to the vessel. Kerimov gained beneficial ownership of the vessel in or about September 2021 through a series of transfers between shell companies designed to conceal his ownership of the yacht. Beginning in October 2021 through its seizure, Kerimov and/or his family members took multiple trips aboard the Amadea, planned extensive renovations to the Amadea, made long-term plans for the Amadea’s travel schedule, and assumed all liability and responsibility for the Amadea’s upkeep.

During that time, individuals or entities acting on Kerimov’s behalf accrued U.S. dollar-denominated costs for the Amadea’s upkeep and sent or caused to be sent through the U.S. financial systems, payments in violation of applicable sanctions.

The Amadea is currently under the control of the U.S. government in San Diego, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which was enforced by a court order issued by the Republic of Fiji following a mutual legal assistance request from the United States. The United States is deeply grateful to the Fijian police and prosecutors whose perseverance and dedication to the rule of law made this action possible.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York, and Task Force KleptoCapture co-directors Michael W. Khoo and David H. Lim made the announcement.

The FBI New York Field Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force is investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, as well as the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Embassy Suva, and the Diplomatic Security Service, provided valuable assistance and cooperation in this investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mortazavi for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorneys Joshua L. Sohn of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Andrew D. Beaty of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are litigating the case.

This case was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the Department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression. 

A civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of a crime. These allegations are not proven until a court awards a judgment in favor of the United States.

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