Case: US v. M/Y Amadea, 23-cv-09304, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
On Monday, March 10th, Judge Dale Ho. released his judgment on a case to determine the actual owner of Amadea, the 106-meter seized superyacht, ruling that Eduard Khudaintov’s attempt to block the US Government’s plans to auction off the vessel, claiming that he is the yacht’s true owner, is not established.
The opening arguments of the trial took place in late January, when the US government took to the court to argue on the yacht’s proprietorship, a roadblock in the authorities’ plight to sell the vessel – which is costing the US taxpayer an amount in the neighborhood of 600-000-$750,000 a month in maintenance and insurance fees, according to various reports. However, the US remained resolute about the owner of the vessel, sanctioned Russian businessman Suleiman Kerimov. Contrary to Khudaintov’s challenge, striving to take ownership of Amadea and proclaiming to be the true ultimate beneficial owner ever since he commissioned the yacht.
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But Khudaintov, not sanctioned by the US, is the “straw owner” of Amadea to cover for Kerimov’s ownership status, the Justice Department arguds – although they explain that he should be responsible for its hefty fees – and has no legal grounds to fight for possession of the vessel. The Government believes that the yacht was sold to Kerimov in September 2021 through intermediaries, while Khudainatov only held the title of the yacht due to Kerimov’s previous sanction designation in 2018. Meanwhile, Khudainatov’s lawyer, Adam Ford, argues that the sale was never completed, but the agreement between the businessmen was a loan.
It should be noted that the court need not determine the owner of Amadea, although the claimant must have legal grounds to challenge the U.S. Government’s seizure and sale of the vessel, which Judge Ho could not find any basis of, as he explained in his 80-page ruling:
“There is a sufficient basis to conclude that claimants (Khudainatov) are mere straw owners of the Amadea,” and adding, “Claimants have not established under any standard that they had an interest in the Amadea other than bare title.”
Responding to the decision, Ford said in a statement: “The court improperly relied on speculative and unreliable assertions from the government while failing to give due weight to the extensive evidence we presented.”
Timeline
Amadea was seized in Fiji, per request of the U.S., and has been imprisoned in San Diego since April 2022. With fees racking up to a total of $30 million thus far, In June 2024, Judge Ho denied to grant the government permission to sell the yacht, due to her “excessive maintenance costs” in June 2024 – with proceeds going towards fighting the case.
TASKFORCE DISBANDED
Weeks after the U.S. government took to court to prove the true owner of the vessel, the U.S. Justice is disbanding the sanctions previously instituted. Task Force KleptoCapture, launched under the Biden administration in March 2022, was implemented in an effort to target Russian oligarchs with Kremlin ties. As part of the measures, Russian assets were detained – including the superyacht in question. Now, the yacht may be returned to its claimed owner after a directive released by Attorney General Pam Bondi explained the new direction of the sanctions measures. “This Policy Requires a fundamental change in mindset and approach,” with resources now directed towards countering international gangs and drug cartels. The US Government went to court on Friday to fight for possession of the vessel amdist the disbandement of the sanctions tools.