Russian oligarch's superyacht to be auctioned in US
The yacht, which has been valued at more than $300 million, was seized from the Russian oligarch in Fiji in April 2022 and is currently berthed in San Diego, California.
The auction is being held by National Maritime Services, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, company. Sealed bids are being accepted until September 10 and require a $10 million initial bid deposit.
The yacht is headed to the auction block after a US judge in March dismissed a competing claim to ownership of the vessel.
Another wealthy Russian, Eduard Khudainatov, the former head of Russian state oil and gas company Rosneft, claimed in a New York court to be the rightful owner of the Amadea but his claim was dismissed by District Judge Dale Ho.
According to prosecutors, Khudainatov was a "straw owner" of the Amadea and the true owner was Kerimov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who was sanctioned by the United States in 2018 and again in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Following the invasion, the Justice Department under then-president Joe Biden began seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs close to Putin, an operation known as Task Force KleptoCapture.
President Donald Trump disbanded the task force after taking office.
The US Congress passed legislation last year that allows for the sale of seized Russian assets, with the proceeds going to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
ICE agents stage 'Trojan Horse' raid in Los Angeles despite court ban
Immigration enforcement agents on Wednesday grabbed more than a dozen people outside a Los Angeles Home Depot in a "Trojan Horse" raid, despite a court ordering them to stop using roving patrols that rights groups say amount to racial profiling. The raid, in which agents sprang from the back of a rented moving truck, was filmed by embedded journalists from Fox News. Footage showed agents – including one wearing a white cowboy hat – jumping out of the truck and racing towards a group that appeared to be largely Latino. Gregory Bovino, Commander of Operations for the US Border Patrol in California, re-tweeted the clip, adding the title "Operation Trojan Horse", a reference to the large wooden horse used in Greek mythology to take the city of Troy by surprise. "For those who thought Immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again," acting US Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X after the raid. "The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government." Fox News said a total of 16 people were ultimately taken into custody, with many of them being placed in the rear of the same van. The outlet cited Department of Homeland Security officials saying the MS-13 gang has a "chokehold" on the area. Day labourers frequently gather in and around the parking lots of hardware stores in the hope of picking up casual work. One man who was there told the Los Angeles Times the raid had unfolded before 7am (1400 GMT) when a truck that appeared to have been rented from vehicle company Penske pulled up in the parking lot. A Spanish-speaking driver said he was looking for workers before masked agents jumped out of the back, sending people running. "This is the worst feeling ever," the man told the paper. 'Serious concerns' A spokesman for Penske said the company had been taken by surprise by the footage of the raid. "Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances," the spokesman said. "The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today's operation and did not authorise this. Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future." Wednesday's raid was one of the most high-profile operations in Los Angeles since a federal court in July ordered a halt to the "roving patrols" carried out by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) as part of President Donald Trump 's plan to deport thousands of undocumented migrants. A three-judge panel last week denied a government appeal to overturn the order, after rights groups argued that the raids appeared to be arresting people largely based on their race. The American Civil Liberties Union said "the evidence available so far" surrounding Wednesday's raid "raises serious concerns that the federal government may be in violation" of the order. "Per that order, federal agents are prohibited from stopping and detaining people based solely on generalisations about how they look, how they speak, or where they are," said ACLU attorney Mohammad Tajsar, in a statement. ICE raids around Los Angeles in early June sparked two weeks of unrest in the city, which is home to millions of migrants. In response to the largely peaceful protests, Trump sent more than 4,700 troops to the city, despite objections from local politicians and law enforcement.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Brazil seeks WTO relief against Trump tariffs
The 50-percent tariff on several Brazilian goods went into force Wednesday over what Trump has termed a "witch hunt" against his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro, the former president on trial for plotting a coup. Sources in the government of incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told AFP Brasilia had filed a request for consultations with the US mission to the WTO -- the first formal step in the trade body's dispute settlement process. Trump's latest tariff salvo raised duties on Brazil from 10 percent to 50 percent for key exports including coffee, beef and sugar. Exempt were nearly 700 other exports including civilian planes, orange juice and pulp, Brazil nuts, and some iron, steel and aluminum products. Brazil's Vice President Geraldo Alckmin previously told journalists the new tariff would apply to about 36 percent of the country's exports to the United States, equal to trade of about $14.5 billion last year. Trump's Brazil tariff is among the highest imposed on US trading partners and was framed in openly political terms, sweeping aside centuries-old trade ties and a surplus Brasilia put at $284 million last year. 'Judge and jury' In an executive order last week, the Trump administration lashed out at Brazilian officials for "unjustified criminal charges" against Bolsonaro, on trial for allegedly plotting to wrest back power after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula. Trump's order also charged that the Lula government's recent policies and actions threatened the US economy, national security, and foreign policy. US tensions with Brazil are not likely to dissipate soon, with a Brazilian judge on Monday placing Bolsonaro under house arrest pending the outcome of his trial for contravening a social media ban. The judge, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, presides over Bolsonaro's trial and was himself hit with financial sanctions this week as Washington claimed he had "taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt." Moraes has clashed repeatedly with the far-right in Brazil, and with tech titan Elon Musk over the spread of online misinformation. Bolsonaro risks decades in prison if found guilty on the coup charges that had allegedly also included discussions to assassinate Lula and other senior officials. The tariff hike on Brazilian goods came a day before a separate wave of higher duties on dozens of economies ranging from the European Union to Taiwan. Analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics estimate the pending increases would boost the average effective tariff rate for US imports to nearly 20 percent. This marks the highest level since at least the 1930s, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University. burs-mlr/bjt © 2025 AFP
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Trump hikes India levy over Russian oil as tariff deadline approaches
Trump's additional 25-percent tariff on Indian goods, set to come into place in three weeks, stacks atop a separate 25-percent duty entering into force Thursday. This takes the level to 50 percent for many products. Trump's order also threatens potential penalties on other countries for "directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," a key source of revenue for Moscow's war in Ukraine. But exemptions remain for goods targeted under sector-specific duties such as steel and aluminum, and categories that could be hit later, like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Smartphones are also among this list of exempted products for now, notably shielding Apple from a major hit as the US tech titan shifts production from China to India. India's foreign ministry condemned Trump's tariff announcement Wednesday, calling the move "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable." The ministry had previously said that India began importing from Russia as traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. It noted that Washington at that time had "actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy market stability." But Trump recently ramped up pressure on India over its purchases of Russian oil, threatening new tariffs as part of a campaign to force Moscow into ending its devastating invasion of Ukraine. India's national security adviser was in Moscow on Wednesday, media in New Delhi reported, coinciding with a visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff. The latest 25-percent additional tariff is notably lower than a 100-percent level Trump floated last month when he told Russia to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions. The Republican said at the time that these would be "secondary tariffs" targeting Russia's remaining trade partners, seeking to impede Moscow's ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions. Tariff turmoil Trump's latest salvo targeting India came after he separately took aim at Brazil over the trial of his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro -- who is accused of planning a coup. On Wednesday, US tariffs on various Brazilian goods surged from 10 percent to 50 percent, although broad exemptions including for orange juice and civil aircraft are expected to soften the blow. Come Thursday, a new wave of tariffs on imports from dozens of other economies, ranging from the European Union to Taiwan, is set to kick in. These updated "reciprocal" tariffs, meant to address trade practices Washington deems unfair, go as high as 41 percent for countries like Syria. Other major US trading partners face varying increases from a current 10-percent level, starting at 15 percent for economies like the EU, Japan and South Korea. Countries not targeted by these "reciprocal" tariff hikes continue facing a 10-percent US levy Trump imposed in April. Trump's plans have sparked a rush to avert the steeper duties, with Switzerland's President Karin Keller-Sutter hurrying to Washington this week ahead of the Thursday deadline. Though she secured a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it was unclear if she would meet Trump or any top economic officials. Her Alpine country faces a 39-percent duty on many of its exports, and while its key pharmaceutical sector has been spared for now, Trump has said a potential separate tariff could eventually rise to 250 percent. Some of Trump's sweeping tariffs face legal challenges over his use of emergency economic powers, with the cases likely to ultimately reach the Supreme Court. © 2025 AFP
