The Justice Department on Monday officially moved to claim a 340-foot superyacht it says belongs to a sanctioned billionaire oligarch known as the 'Russian Gatsby.' In a civil forfeiture claim filed in federal court in New York, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams' office said the $300 million vessel Amadea is beneficially owned by Suleiman Kerimov and that the 'superyacht was improved and maintained in violation of applicable sanctions against Kerimov and those acting on his behalf.
The court filing said officials were able to prove his ownership of the yacht by showing that he was responsible for numerous upgrades to the vessel, including a new pizza oven. The yacht was seized in Fiji last year as part of the work of Task Force KleptoCapture, which has been going after the assets of sanctioned oligarchs in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S.