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Seized Russian-owned yacht Amadea finally sets sail from Fiji under U.S. control

By Graham Kates

Updated on: June 7, 2022 / 11:44 AM EDT / CBS News

The Amadea, a Russian-owned superyacht, set sail from Fiji Tuesday bearing a U.S. flag, ending weeks of legal and administrative hurdles that had stalled American efforts to seize the $300 million vessel it says is owned by a sanctioned oligarch.

U.S. Justice Department officials had been stymied by a frenzied legal effort by the Amadea's owner to contest the American seizure warrant, and a yacht crew that refused to sail for the U.S.

Fiji's Supreme Court ultimately weighed in Tuesday, clearing the U.S. to take the 348-foot ship.  The Amadea boasts luxury features such as a helipad, a mosaic-tiled pool, a 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 ship was targeted by the Justice Department's Kleptocapture task force, a team devoted to seizing the luxury assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs , as part of U.S. efforts to punish Russia for its deadly war in Ukraine. Legislation supported by President Biden that has passed the House of Representatives, but not the Senate, would allow the U.S. to sell the Amadea and direct the proceeds toward the Ukraine war and recovery effort.

Today, with authorization from the Fijian High Court and under a new flag, the Amadea set sail for the United States after having been seized as the proceeds of criminal evasion of US sanctions against Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/JHiYUDKcmQ — Anthony Coley (@AnthonyColeyDOJ) June 7, 2022

The U.S. claims the Amadea is owned by sanctioned gold mining billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, but a Fijian lawyer for the holding company the ship is registered to has said the U.S. is incorrect.

The lawyer, Feizel Haniff, said the true owner is Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oil executive who was sanctioned by the European Union on June 4 but has not been sanctioned by the U.S. The Amadea is one of at least two massive superyachts — with a combined value of about $1 billion — owned by holding companies tied to Eduard Khudainatov

American officials are dismissive of his claim to the yachts, arguing he's not rich enough to own them. An FBI agent wrote in a warrant that Khudainatov is "a second-tier oligarch (at best) who would not have anywhere near the resources to purchase and maintain more than $1 billion worth of luxury yachts."

U.S. officials claim in court documents that Khudainatov is a "straw man" for the sanctioned Russian elite who really own the yachts. 

Haniff declined to comment on Fiji's decision Tuesday to end the legal saga that began in April , when U.S. officials accompanied Fijian police in boarding the ship to interview crew and pore through records on the ship's computers.

Those same police would later escort U.S. officials off the ship after they boarded on the morning of May 7 and demanded the captain "immediately handover the Amadea with all available key personnel," according to a sworn affidavit by the captain, filed in Fiji court.

The day before, a Fiji court had effectively frozen the ship in place, issuing a stay of a previous ruling authorizing the U.S. to take it. 

But even without that stay, the U.S. faced an unexpected hurdle. The crew, whose pay had already been frozen due to sanctions, were "refusing to sail on the Amadea with the U.S. authorities to an unknown destination," the captain wrote in his affidavit. He added that they feared cooperating with the U.S., in breach of their contracts with the ship's owner, would damage their reputations in the yachting industry.

By the end of May, contractors for the U.S. had hired a new crew of 24, led by a captain who had previously been at the helm of the Amadea.

On Tuesday, Fiji's Supreme Court ruled that the ship needed to be turned over to the U.S. in order for Fiji to comply with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 

Fiji's top prosecutor said in a statement to media organizations that "the court accepted the validity of the US warrant and agreed that issues concerning money laundering and ownership need to be decided in the court of original jurisdiction," in this case, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

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Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]

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$300 Million Yacht of Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Suleiman Kerimov Seized by Fiji at Request of United States

Fijian law enforcement executed a seizure warrant freezing the Motor Yacht Amadea (the Amadea), a 348-foot luxury vessel owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. Fijian law enforcement, with the support and assistance of the FBI, acted pursuant to a mutual legal assistance request from the U.S. Department of Justice following issuance of a seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which found that the Amadea is subject to forfeiture based on probable cause of violations of U.S. law, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), money laundering and conspiracy.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Kerimov as part of a group of Russian oligarchs who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe, including the occupation of Crimea. In sanctioning Kerimov, the Treasury Department also cited Kerimov as an official of the Government of the Russian Federation and a member of the Russian Federation Counsel.

According to court documents, Kerimov owned the Amadea after his designation. Additionally, Kerimov and those acting on his behalf and for his benefit caused U.S. dollar transactions to be routed through U.S. financial institutions for the support and maintenance of the Amadea.

“This ruling should make clear that there is no hiding place for the assets of individuals who violate U.S. laws. And there is no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine.”

“Last month, I warned that the department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “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.”

“This seizure demonstrates the FBI's persistence in pursuing sanctioned Russian oligarchs attempting to evade accountability for their role in jeopardizing our national security,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI, along with our international partners, will continue to seek out those individuals who contribute to the advancement of Russia’s malign activities and ensure they are brought to justice, regardless of where, or how, they attempt to hide.”

“This seizure of Suleiman Kerimov’s vessel, the Amadea, nearly 8,000 miles from Washington, D.C., symbolizes the reach of the Department of Justice as we continue to work with our global partners to disrupt the sense of impunity of those who have supported corruption and the suffering of so many,” said Director Andrew Adams of Task Force KleptoCapture. “This Task Force will continue to bring to bear every resource available in this unprecedented, multinational series of enforcement actions against the Russian regime and its enablers.”

“The U.S. Marshals Service will continue to contribute our expertise in support of Task Force efforts to take possession of seized assets of Russian oligarchs during these forfeiture operations,” said Director Ronald L. Davis of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

The seizure 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 and run out 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.

Upon receipt of a mutual legal assistance request from the United States, Fijian authorities executed the request, obtaining a domestic seizure warrant from a Fijian court.

The Amadea, International Maritime Organization number 1012531, is believed to be worth approximately $300 million or more. The yacht is now in Lautoka, Fiji.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office with assistance from the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Canberra, Australia, the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, and the U.S. Embassy in Suva, Fiji.

Trial Attorney Andrew D. Beaty of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Trial Attorney Joshua L. Sohn of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are handling the seizure. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Marshals Service provided significant assistance. The United States thanks the Fijian authorities for their cooperation in this matter.

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U.S. says Fiji seized Russian billionaire’s $300 million superyacht

A $300 million yacht allegedly owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov has been seized by Fijian authorities at the request of the U.S., the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The 348-foot luxury vessel, known as the Amadea, was seized after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that it was subject to forfeiture based on probable cause of sanctions violations.

The U.S. government had said in court papers that "Kerimov and those acting on his behalf and for his benefit caused U.S. dollar transactions for the AMADEA to be sent through U.S. financial institutions, after a time which Kerimov was designated by the Treasury Department."

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the ruling should make clear that "there is no hiding place for the assets of individuals who violate U.S. laws, and there is no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime."

“The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine," Garland added.

A lawyer for Kerimov in France did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for the company listed as owning the yacht have denied that Kerimov has any connection to it.

The move came as Western nations have ramped up efforts to seize and freeze assets around the world owned by sanctioned Russian elites with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

A billionaire who has been called the “Russian Gatsby,” Kerimov is one of the richest people in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . Much of his wealth is thought to stem from his family’s stake in Polyus — the largest gold producer in Russia. 

In 2018, Kerimov was sanctioned by the U.S., along with seven other Russian oligarchs, for benefitting from the Putin regime and Russia’s “malign activity around the globe,” including the occupation of Crimea and efforts to subvert Western democracies. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kerimov was hit with additional sanctions by Canada, the U.K. and the E.U. 

The Amadea arrived in Fiji last month. The vessel was “restrained from leaving Fijian waters” until a warrant to seize the yacht was finalized by U.S. authorities, Fiji’s public prosecutor, Christopher Pryde, said in a statement at the time. 

NBC News last month published an investigation , in partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other media partners, into how Kerimov and his associates used a maze of corporate structures to move more than $700 million in wire transfers from 2012 to 2014. 

The investigation reviewed major financial record leaks — including the Pandora Papers and the FinCEN Files — to identify the wire transfers and connect the companies behind them to Kerimov and his associates. While rich people around the world use creative tactics to protect their wealth, the documents revealed the exceptional steps the billionaire and his associates have taken in the past and highlight the challenges ahead for authorities seeking to stem the flow of money to Putin’s inner circle. 

On April 6, reports emerged that the European Union was considering adding Kerimov’s son Said to its sanctions list, and within hours Polyus announced that the younger Kerimov had resigned from its board of directors and sold off nearly half of his shares in the company, distancing the company in the event that Said was sanctioned. 

Days later the E.U. sanctioned Said for being “associated with a leading businessperson” who provides “a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation,” according to the sanctions announcement. The U.K. followed suit the next week. 

Kerimov’s assets have included a $190 million estate in the French Riviera, according to French prosecutors.

Despite holding diplomatic immunity, Kerimov was arrested in France in 2017 in connection with a tax evasion and money laundering case over the purchase of the property.

French authorities accused Kerimov of purchasing the multimillion-dollar villa and three others through a front man. Charges against Kerimov were later dropped, but the company used to purchase the property paid out approximately $12 million in back taxes and fines. 

Lawyers for Kerimov have denied that he owned the property.

"After several years of investigation, no incrimination has been brought against our client," one of his lawyers told NBC News.

But an official from the prosecutor’s office in Nice said the investigation has not been closed. 

The companies used to purchase the four villas in the south of France were transferred to Kerimov’s eldest daughter from May to November of last year, according to French company register records.

Kerimov’s son and daughter did not respond to requests for comment at the time.

Kenzi Abou-Sabe is a reporter and producer in the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Yasmine Salam is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. Previously she worked in the London Bureau, covering international stories.

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US says superyacht owned by Russian oligarch seized in Fiji

FILE - The superyacht Amadea is docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 15 2022. The superyacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday, May 5. (Leon Lord/Fiji Sun via AP, File)

FILE - Boat captain Emosi Dawai looks at the superyacht Amadea where it is docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 13, 2022. The superyacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday, May 5. (Leon Lord/Fiji Sun via AP, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A superyacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.

A judge in Fiji earlier in the week permitted U.S. authorities to seize the yacht Amadea — worth $325 million — but also put his order temporarily on hold while defense lawyers mounted a challenge.

The Justice Department said authorities in Fiji, acting at the request of the United States, have now served a search warrant freezing the yacht, which had earlier been prevented from leaving the South Pacific nation.

American officials say the 348-foot vessel belongs to Suleiman Kerimov, an economist and former Russian politician who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018 and has faced further censure from Canada, Europe, Britain and other nations after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Kerimov made a fortune investing in Russian gold producer Polyus, with Forbes magazine putting his net worth at $14.5 billion.

Defense lawyers had claimed the yacht actually belonged to another Russian oligarch.

In an application in support of the search warrant, an FBI agent wrote that there was probable cause to believe that Kerimov had owned the Amadea since 2021. The vessel, which is flagged in the Cayman Islands, had turned off its automated information system on Feb. 24, the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

The Justice Department said the seizure was coordinated by its KleptoCapture task force , which was created in March to seize assets belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarchs. In April, the Justice Department seized a 254-foot yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the latest seizure “should make clear that there is no hiding place for the assets of individuals who violate U.S. laws. And there is no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime.”

The Justice Department said the yacht is now in Lautoka, Fiji.

Fiji seizes $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov on U.S. request

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Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Alexandra Hudson

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Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.

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Fiji seizes $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov on U.S. request

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By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities in Fiji have seized a $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov at the request of the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday, as Washington and its allies press Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

A Fiji court had ruled on Tuesday that the United States can seize a Russian-owned superyacht, weeks after it arrived and was impounded by police.

Authorities in various countries have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a special military operation.

Kerimov was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia's actions in Syria and Ukraine. He has also been sanctioned by the European Union.

The U.S. Justice Department's Taskforce KleptoCapture has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets to put the finances of Russian oligarchs under strain in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

The luxury vessel, the Amadea, arrived in Fiji last month after an 18-day voyage across the Pacific from Mexico.

The U.S. Treasury Department's office of foreign assets control designated Kerimov as part of a group of Russian oligarchs who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its activities around the globe, including the occupation of Crimea.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Alexandra Hudson)

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U.S. wins case to seize Russian oligarch’s superyacht in Fiji and sails it away

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The U.S. won a legal battle Tuesday to seize a Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji and wasted no time in taking command of the $325-million vessel and sailing it away from the South Pacific nation.

The court ruling represented a significant victory for the U.S. as it encounters obstacles in its attempts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. While those efforts are welcomed by many who oppose the war in Ukraine, some actions have tested the limits of American jurisdiction abroad.

In Fiji, the nation’s Supreme Court lifted a stay which had prevented the U.S. from seizing the superyacht Amadea.

Chief Justice Kamal Kumar ruled that, based on the evidence, the chances of defense lawyers mounting an appeal that the top court would hear were “nil to very slim.”

Kumar said he accepted arguments that keeping the superyacht berthed in Fiji at Lautoka harbor was “costing the Fijian government dearly.”

“The fact that U.S. authorities have undertaken to pay costs incurred by the Fijian government is totally irrelevant,” the judge found. He said the Amadea “sailed into Fiji waters without any permit and most probably to evade prosecution by the United States of America.”

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The U.S. removed the motorized vessel within an hour or two of the court’s ruling, possibly to ensure that the yacht didn’t get entangled in any further legal action.

In early May, the Justice Department issued a statement saying the Amadea had been seized in Fiji, but that turned out to be premature after lawyers appealed.

It wasn’t immediately clear where the U.S. intended to take the Amadea, which the FBI has linked to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov .

Fiji Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde said unresolved questions of money-laundering and the ownership of the Amadea need to be decided in the U.S.

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“The decision acknowledges Fiji’s commitment to respecting international mutual assistance requests and Fiji’s international obligations,” Pryde said.

In court documents, the FBI linked the Amadea to the Kerimov family through the family’s alleged use of code names while aboard and the purchase of items such as a pizza oven and a spa bed. The ship 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 348-foot-long vessel, about the length of a football field, features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad.

Lawyer Feizal Haniff, who represented Millemarin Investments — the owner on paper of the yacht — had argued that the real owner was another wealthy Russian who, unlike Kerimov, doesn’t face sanctions.

The U.S. acknowledged that paperwork appeared to show Eduard Khudainatov as the owner but said he was also the owner on paper of a second and even larger superyacht, the Scheherazade, which has been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin .

The U.S. questioned whether Khudainatov could really afford two superyachts worth a total of more than $1 billion.

“The fact that Khudainatov is being held out as the owner of two of the largest superyachts on record, both linked to sanctioned individuals, suggests that Khudainatov is being used as a clean, unsanctioned straw owner to conceal the true beneficial owners,” the FBI wrote in a court affidavit.

Court documents say the Amadea switched off its transponder soon after Russia invaded Ukraine and sailed from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal to Mexico, arriving with more than $100,000 in cash. It then sailed thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean to Fiji.

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The Justice Department said it didn’t believe paperwork showing the Amadea was next headed to the Philippines, arguing that it was really destined for Vladivostok or elsewhere in Russia.

The department said it found a text message on a crew member’s phone saying, “We’re not going to Russia” followed by a “shush” emoji.

The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the Cayman Island-flagged Amadea last year through various shell companies. The FBI said a search warrant in Fiji turned up emails showing that Kerimov’s children were aboard the ship this year and that the crew used code names for the family — G0 for Kerimov, G1 for his wife, G2 for his daughter and so on.

Kerimov made a fortune investing in Russian gold producer Polyus, with Forbes magazine putting his net worth at $14.5 billion. The U.S. first sanctioned him in 2018 after he was detained in France and accused of money-laundering there, including allegations that he sometimes arrived with suitcases stuffed with 20 million euros ($21.4 million at current exchange rates).

Khudainatov is the former chairman and chief executive of Rosneft, the state-controlled Russian oil and gas company .

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Fiji seizes Russian oligarch’s $300m yacht at US request

US Justice Department task force has focused on seizing yachts and luxury assets owned by Russians following the invasion of Ukraine.

Fijian authorities have seized a $300m yacht owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov at the request of the United States, according to the US Justice Department.

The move, which was announced on Thursday, is the latest by Washington and its allies to up pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine , often targeting wealthy citizens known to have close ties to the Kremlin.

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A court in Fiji ruled on Tuesday that the US could seize the Russian-owned super-yacht , weeks after it arrived and was impounded by police.

“The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine,” US Attorney General Merrick B Garland said in a statement announcing the yacht’s seizure.

The US Treasury Department had previously designated Kerimov “as part of a group of Russian oligarchs who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe”, the Justice Department said.

It said court documents showed Kerimov owned the 348-foot luxury yacht, called Amadea, after the designation, and that the oligarch and those acting on his behalf “caused US dollar transactions to be routed through US  financial institutions for the support and maintenance of the Amadea”.

Kerimov was sanctioned by the US in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine. He has also been sanctioned by the European Union.

“This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide – not even in the remotest part of the world,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a statement.

Authorities in various countries have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The US Justice Department launched the task force KleptoCapture in March to specifically focus on seizing yachts and other luxury assets to put the finances of Russian oligarchs under strain in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In early April, the US seized a 254-foot yacht in Spain owned by Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close Putin ally who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets.

US President Joe Biden has asked Congress for the authority to formally seize and sell assets of Russians to fund Ukraine’s defence and rebuilding, although it remains unclear if he would be able to do so without running afoul of international law.

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Before a fiji court: can the u.s. seize a russian yacht in the south pacific.

The Associated Press

Boat captain Emosi Dawai looks at the super-yacht Amadea where it is docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 13, 2022. The super-yacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced May 5. Leon Lord/AP hide caption

Boat captain Emosi Dawai looks at the super-yacht Amadea where it is docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 13, 2022. The super-yacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced May 5.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — At Lautoka harbor in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane region, five U.S. federal agents boarded the Russian-owned Amadea, a luxurious superyacht the length of a football field.

"They want to take 20 crew and sail east!" the ship's captain wrote in a frantic May 5 WhatsApp message to lawyer Feizal Haniff, who represents the company that legally owns the superyacht.

"When?" Haniff wrote back, court documents obtained by The Associated Press show. "Please hold. Please hold. Can you hold. I need a judge. I am dialing everyone."

The case highlights the thorny legal ground the U.S. is finding itself on as it tries to seize assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. Those intentions are welcomed by many governments and citizens who oppose the war in Ukraine, but some actions are raising questions about how far U.S. jurisdiction extends.

What are the ripple effects of sanctioning Russia's richest and most powerful?

In Fiji, the agents boarded the vessel after an initial legal victory in which a lower Fijian court granted the registration of a U.S. seizure warrant.

In Washington, the Justice Department rushed out a media release. "$300 Million Yacht of Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Suleiman Kerimov Seized by Fiji at Request of United States," it read.

But Haniff argued the U.S. had jumped the gun. Whatever evidence or suspicions the FBI had about the ship, Haniff argued, they didn't have the right to take control of it, much less sail it away.

That's because prior to the agents boarding the ship, Haniff had already filed two legal appeals, arguing that the real owner was a different wealthy Russian — a man who didn't face sanctions — and that the U.S. had no jurisdiction under Fiji's mutual assistance laws to seize the vessel, at least until a court sorted out who really owned the Amadea.

Fiji's Court of Appeal decided to take up the case, and heard arguments Wednesday. The Amadea is now back under the watchful eye of the Fijian police.

The FBI had linked the Amadea to the Kerimov family through their alleged use of code names while aboard and the purchase of items like a pizza oven and a spa bed. The ship became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture , launched in March to seize Russian oligarchs' assets to pressure Russia to end the war.

Court documents say the Amadea switched off its transponder soon after Russia invaded Ukraine and sailed from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal to Mexico, arriving with over $100,000 in cash. It then sailed thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean to Fiji.

The Justice Department said it didn't believe paperwork showing the Amadea was next headed to the Philippines, arguing it was really destined for Vladivostok or elsewhere in Russia.

The department said it found a text message on a crew member's phone: "We're not going to Russia" followed by a "shush" emoji.

Documents show yacht ties former Rosneft executive

Court documents show the company Haniff represents, Millemarin Investments, is the legal owner of the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht and that Millemarin is owned by Eduard Khudainatov, a former chairman and chief executive of Rosneft, the state-controlled Russian oil and gas company. Khudainatov, who doesn't face sanctions, filed an affidavit to say he owns the Amadea.

When the U.S. agents boarded the ship, Haniff worried he might never get to a chance to argue his case in court because the Amadea would have sailed away to the U.S. — maybe to American Samoa, Hawaii, even to San Francisco.

He prepared a fiery draft appeal accusing U.S authorities of running roughshod over Fiji's sovereignty after encountering a lower court judge who was "star struck" by the American warrant. He said they'd tried to bribe the yacht's young crew members to sail it to the U.S., and had threatened to cancel the crew's U.S. visas.

"The conduct of the U.S authorities in Fiji relating to the Amadea has been appalling," he wrote in a draft which he never filed because the appeals court took up the case.

A Justice Department official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. agents who boarded the ship did so under a valid warrant, and were accompanied by Fijian authorities throughout.

There were "further proceedings following the initial approval of the warrant," the official acknowledged, adding the U.S. had acted properly under both U.S. and Fijian law.

The official said other claims like bribery were categorically false.

"We are seeking to contract with various service providers for the transport of the ship," the official said. "The characterization of those contract negotiations as anything other than just that is baseless."

A Russian oligarch's $90 million yacht is seized as part of U.S. sanctions

In court documents, the FBI claims Kerimov, an economist and former Russian politician, is the real owner of the Amadea, which is 106 meters (348 feet) long and features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and and a large helipad.

Kerimov made a fortune investing in Russian gold producer Polyus, with Forbes magazine putting his net worth at $15.6 billion.

The U.S. first sanctioned him in 2018 after he'd been detained in France and accused of money laundering there, sometimes arriving with suitcases stuffed with 20 million euros.

The U.S. acknowledges that paperwork appears to show Khudainatov is the owner but say he's also the paper owner of a second and even larger superyacht, the Scheherazade, which has been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. question whether Khudainatov could really afford two superyachts worth a total of more than $1 billion.

"The fact that Khudainatov is being held out as the owner of two of the largest superyachts on record, both linked to sanctioned individuals, suggests that Khudainatov is being used as a clean, unsanctioned straw owner to conceal the true beneficial owners," the FBI wrote in a court affidavit.

The U.S. claims it was Kerimov who secretly bought the Amadea last year through shell companies. The FBI said a search warrant in Fiji turned up messages on the ship's computers that point to Kerimov. Emails showed that Kerimov's children were aboard the ship this year and that the crew used code names — G0 for Kerimov, G1 for his wife, G2 for his daughter and so on.

The Kerimov family's ownership was evident from changes they made to the superyacht, like adding more electric sockets in its bathrooms, and their involvement in approving the new pizza oven and spa bed, the FBI said. Crew members discuss a possible "upcoming G0 guest trip" noting he wants the quickest jet skis available — so they'll need to buy new jet skis.

In his appeal, Haniff argues the U.S. case is based on hearsay and rumors spread by unnamed crew members, and there's no evidence that Khudainatov couldn't afford an investment in two superyachts.

The FBI's evidence only shows Kerimov's family may have been guests on the boat, he said.

"This is thin stuff," Haniff wrote in his appeal. "The super-rich are a tribe who live different lives from the rest of us: they are given privileges and luxuries in goods and services which are far removed from ordinary experience. This says nothing suggestive of ownership."

Within a week or two, the appeals court is expected to decide what happens next to the Amadea.

Fiji court rules Russian oligarch's $450m superyacht can be seized by US, but defence will apply for a stay order

Fiji's High Court has ruled in favour of a bid by the United States government and Fijian authorities to seize a Russian-owned superyacht.

Key points:

• US authorities allege the yacht belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov
• The defence will apply for a stay order to keep the yacht in Fiji for the time being
• The yacht was detained by Fijian authorities on arrival in Lautoka in mid-April

The $450m luxury vessel was detained by Fijian authorities on arrival in Lautoka in mid-April, because its alleged owner Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov is the subject of sanctions by US and European authorities.

High Court Judge Deepthi Amaratunga granted the application to seize the vessel but also gave the defence time to apply for a stay order.

That means the yacht, called the Amadea, will remain in Fijian waters for now . 

Defence lawyer Feizal Haniff, acting for the Amadea's registered owners Millemarin Investment Ltd, immediately asked the court for a stay on Justice Amaratunga's ruling.

"There is some indication that American authorities are wanting to take this boat away," he told journalists outside court.

"[The judge] said we have a right to appeal, and obviously he said that we will ensure that the boat is in Fiji while the stay application is filed."

Who is the sanctioned oligarch?

The US alleges the yacht is owned by Mr Kerimov, who, according to Forbes, is worth more than $US14.3 billion (almost $20 billion).

The defence has disputed that and said the yacht's beneficial or real owner is Eduard Khudainatov, who does not appear to be facing sanctions.

Mr Kerimov, who was not on board, is a politician and businessman, and a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He has been sanctioned by the US since 2018 for alleged money laundering and has faced further sanctions from Canada, Europe and Britain after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Soon after the yacht's arrival in Fiji, the High Court ordered the vessel was not to leave the country until the merits of the US warrant to seize it were determined.

The court hearing took place in Fiji's capital Suva last week but media were barred from covering it. 

The Amadea travelled from Mexico for 18 days across the Pacific, entering Fijian waters on April 13, but it did not have customs clearance.

Almost immediately, the US sought to seize the yacht and sent a formal request for legal assistance to Fiji to prevent the vessel from leaving the Pacific island nation's waters.

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Suspected Fabergé egg found on Russian oligarch’s superyacht, US investigators say

US deputy attorney general hails ‘interesting’ find on board yacht seized by US authorities and sailed from Fiji to San Diego

What could be a priceless Fabergé egg has been found on board a Russian oligarch’s superyacht seized by US authorities, one of the more curious items unearthed in sanctions-led investigations so far.

US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco told the Aspen security forum on Wednesday it was one of the more “interesting” finds her team has made.

“Let’s get to the juicy stuff: the yachts,” she told the forum dedicated to discussing law enforcement’s role in freezing and seizing Russian assets. “We’ve been finding some really interesting things … we recovered a Fabergé – or alleged Fabergé egg – on one of these [yachts] so it just gets more and more interesting.”

Monaco did not specify exactly which yacht she was referring to but did say it was currently docked in San Diego Bay after it had been sailed from Fiji last month.

A $300m yacht called the Amadea was sailed by US law enforcement officials from Fiji to San Diego late last month after an extensive legal battle over which Russian oligarch owned it.

“We’re working with our law enforcement counterparts around the world to conduct searches on these yachts to make sure we have the authority and can go to a court, seize them and then forfeit the proceeds,” she added.

Monaco said if the jewelled egg was deemed to be authentic it would make it one of the few remaining in the world, and worth millions of dollars.

Fabergé eggs have become a byword for opulence and luxury since the young jeweller was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III of Russia in 1885 to make one as a gift for his wife, Maria. It became a Romanov tradition for the next three decades.

Fabergé created only 50 eggs for the imperial family and not all survived.

As a part of the US justice department’s “KleptoCapture” initiative and a multinational task force called Repo – Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs – the US and its allies have seized billions of dollars’ worth of sanctioned Russian assets since March, according to the treasury department.

Monaco told the forum she supported the idea that the profits of seized assets should be forfeited, possibly to be funnelled back into Ukraine, and authority to do so had been requested from Congress.

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Insiders still have no idea what's going to happen to Russian oligarchs' seized superyachts

• It's been two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to sanctions against Russian oligarchs.
• Many of their superyachts were seized or frozen , leading industry insiders to question their fate.
• The yachts, some of which are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, remain in a state of limbo.

More than two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the boating world still doesn't have many answers about what's going on with the very large, expensive elephants in the sea: oligarchs' superyachts .

The war prompted many governments to enact sanctions against Russia's richest , including seizing their superyachts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But it's unclear whether they can be sold or who'd buy them, leaving ports peppered with massive boats stuck in a floating limbo.

"The Russian problem, it's becoming a bigger and bigger and bigger problem," one luxury yacht broker told Business Insider at the Palm Beach International Boat Show last week. Like many others, he requested not to be named, given the sensitive nature of the matter at hand and the generally discreet nature of the industry.

Russia has been a massive player in the massive boat market for a long time. In August 2021 — about six months before Russia's Ukraine invasion — Russians owned the second-largest share of yachts over 40 meters in length, according to a report from the industry publication SuperYacht Times.

They were responsible for 16% of new build superyacht purchases in the decade preceding the report and are known for splashing out on extravagant interiors and unique features. (One builder BI spoke to recalled a mandate from an oligarch for a large safe in the owner's cabin in which he could keep his rifles. The builder later learned he'd use them to skeet shoot on deck.)

But those sales have now screeched to a halt as oligarchs get hit by international sanctions. At least a dozen superyachts — worth well over $1 billion combined — have been affected.

And no one is quite sure what will happen to them.

Russia's sanctioned superyachts are hard to buy and sell

The first problem is that many of the yachts are "frozen" — not seized. That means that although the Russian owners can't operate or collect them, they don't technically belong to an overseas government, so they can't be sold without special permission.

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors petitioned a judge asking for consent to sell the Amadea, the 106-meter superyacht that has been docked in San Diego and costs the US as much as $922,000 a month to maintain.

"I've had some inquiries, but all you can tell them is we don't know the outcome yet" of the case, another superyacht broker told BI at the yacht show.

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And despite the broker's claim of interest in yachts like Amadea , most ultrarich — or at least their brokers — don't want to go near the vessels with a ten-foot pole, even if the government does get legal permission to sell them.

"How does it look if you bought a Russian boat?" Julia Simpson, a broker at Thompson of Monaco, said. "Even if it's completely legal and normal, there are too many things on the line," she said, like how the original owner got their money and whether that could make the new buyer look bad.

There are also possible legal implications, as it's hard for the government to prove who actually owns the yachts.

"Oligarchs typically structure their ownership of these high-value assets through a web of offshore shell companies and trusts that is designed to conceal the true owner," Joshua Naftalis, a former federal prosecutor who now works for Pallas Partners, told BI.

And if the government does assume ownership, it's highly dependent on court orders. For example, a Russian whose yacht had been seized by the French government regained access to his boat after winning a legal battle in 2022.

"It's a very difficult process to buy them," Ralph Dazert, the head of intelligence at SuperYacht Times, told BI. "There is a high risk of the former (Russian) owner suing you to get the boat back."

He pointed to the Alfa Nero, the 82-meter yacht that Eric Schmidt planned to purchase for $67 million last year in an auction put on by Antigua and Barbuda. He backed out after various parties tried to block the sale, likely deeming it not worth the legal headache.

"When the reason for sanctioning goes away, which it may do," the Russian owners will try to get their boats back , Simpson said. After all, "the government's not going to pay them."'

That said, if sanctions are dropped, the yachts will be worth much less than when they were seized, as a boat not in use deteriorates much faster than one sailing the seas.

"Those yachts need to be used to be kept in shape, kept in condition," the second broker said. "​​Just having them sit at the dock with a temporary crew on board is not good for the boats."

And the sanctioned Russians who have managed to maintain control of their superyachts won't have an easy time offloading them in the future.

Americans who try to do business with sanctioned oligarchs would have a number of hoops to jump through — like finding a bank to process the purchase, which would be next to impossible. If somehow they did and the government caught wind, they'd face hefty penalties and the transaction would be void.

So Russia's richest have found themselves "stuck" sailing in a select few countries that will let them, like the Maldives, Montenegro, and Dubai.

Watch: Video of Russian naval ship explosion shows a much-needed win for Ukraine

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Why the U.S. put a $1 million bounty on a Russian yacht’s alleged manager

On Sept. 3, 2020, the staff of a $90 million yacht placed an order with a U.S. company for a set of luxury bathrobes that came to $2,624.35.

For roughly two years before that, according to federal prosecutors, the yacht’s management had been falsely claiming it was working for a boat named “Fanta.” But the luxury bathrobes came embroidered with a monogram that, prosecutors said, revealed the yacht’s true identity: “Tango.”

That was a problem, officials say in court papers, because Tango was owned by a Russian billionaire under U.S. sanctions, and doing business on his behalf violated federal law.

Late last month, U.S. authorities unveiled a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of the man they say was running the yacht staff and orchestrated the deception with the robes — Vladislav Osipov, 52, a Swiss-based businessman from Russia. In a new indictment , federal prosecutors say Osipov misled U.S. banks and companies into doing business with the Tango yacht despite the sanctions on the Russian owner, whom the Justice Department has identified as billionaire Viktor Vekselberg .

Osipov has denied the allegations. Osipov’s attorney has said that the government has failed to demonstrate that Vekselberg owned the yacht, and that its management was therefore not a sanctions violation.

The reward offer for Osipov reflects the latest stage in the evolution of the West’s broader financial war against Russia two years into the war in Ukraine, as the United States and its allies increasingly target intermediaries accused of enabling Russian oligarchs to circumvent sanctions.

Many Russians close to President Vladimir Putin have been under sanctions dating to 2014, when Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine and sent proxy forces into that country’s eastern Donbas region. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, President Biden vowed to deal a “crushing blow” with a barrage of new sanctions on financial institutions, industries, business executives and others tied to the Kremlin. But roughly two years later, Russia’s economy has proved surprisingly resilient after the nation poured tens of billions of dollars into ramping up its military industry. Moscow has also worked around the sanctions, finding new third parties to supply it with critical military and industrial hardware, as well as countries beyond Europe to buy its oil.

Now, the West is trying to increase the reach of its sanctions by digging deeper into Russian supply chains. Late last month, the Treasury Department announced more than 500 new sanctions targeting Russia , primarily on military and industrial suppliers. The Justice Department also announced charges against two U.S.-based “facilitators” of a Russian state banker who is under sanction, as well as the guilty plea of a dual national based in Atlanta who was accused of laundering $150 million through bank accounts and shell companies on behalf of Russian clients.

Prioritizing criminal charges against — and the arrests of — Western employees of Russia’s elites represents a new escalation of the U.S. financial war against Putin, experts say. One Moscow businessman, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said many influential Russians are concerned about the arrest of two associates of Andrey Kostin, the head of VTB, Russia’s second-biggest state bank. These associates, Vadim Wolfson and Gannon Bond, were charged with helping Kostin evade sanctions by maintaining a $12 million property in Aspen, Colo., for Kostin’s benefit while concealing his ownership. Kostin has said that the charges of sanctions evasion against him are “unfounded” and that he has not violated any laws . Bond has pleaded not guilty; Wolfson hasn’t made an initial court appearance yet.

Wolfson, also known as Vadim Belyaev, had been a Russian billionaire until the Russian government took over his bank in 2017. Bond, 49, is a U.S. citizen from Edgewater, N.J. For all Russians living abroad and working with people in Russia, the threat of criminal charges is a much more worrying prospect than the sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department last month against hundreds of individuals and entities, the businessman said, in part because sanctions are far easier to dodge than criminal charges.

“What you have seen through today’s public announcements are our efforts at really targeting the facilitators who possess the requisite skill set, access, connections that allow the Russian war machine [and] the Russian elites to continually have access to Western services and Western goods,” David Lim, co-director of the Justice Department’s KleptoCapture task force, which is tasked with enforcing U.S. sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, told reporters last month.

Thad McBride, an international trade partner at the law firm Bass Berry & Sims, said the crackdown on intermediaries reflected the natural evolution of the U.S. sanctions campaign in response to Russian adjustments.

“It seems to me they have gone through a comprehensive list of the oligarchs, and you can debate whether or not it’s had a meaningful impact on the Russian war effort,” McBride said. “Because they’re getting smarter about who’s who, they’re finding other people who play meaningful roles in these transactions, even though they’re not showing up in the headlines.”

The charges against Osipov related to his alleged management of the Tango yacht illustrate the mounting potential consequences for people in Europe and the United States who attempt to do business with Russians targeted by Western allies, as well as the opaque structures allegedly employed by those seeking to evade sanctions.

With a net worth estimated by Forbes in 2021 at $9 billion, Vekselberg, 66, has long drawn scrutiny from the West — and sought to safeguard his wealth. He made his initial fortune in aluminum and oil in Russia’s privatization of the 1990s and then expanded into industrial and financial assets in Europe, the United States and Africa, with Putin’s blessing. In addition to the yacht, federal prosecutors say, Vekselberg acquired $75 million worth of properties, including apartments on New York’s Park Avenue and an estate in the Long Island town of Southampton.

Vekselberg, who declined to comment for this article, has not been criminally charged by the Justice Department. In a 2019 interview with the Financial Times, he denounced the sanctions as arbitrary and harmful for international business, saying he had been targeted just because he was Russian and rich and knows Putin.

In April 2018, the Treasury Department under the Trump administration sanctioned Vekselberg and six other Russian oligarchs as part of broader financial penalties over the Kremlin’s invasion of Crimea, support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Vekselberg was also targeted for his work for the Kremlin as chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation, an attempt to create Russia’s version of the Silicon Valley — evidence that appeared to undermine the Russian businessman’s claims that he operated independently of the Kremlin.

But with Vekselberg’s payments monitored by U.S. banks, according to the federal indictment , Osipov used shell companies and intermediaries to avert the bite of sanctions. Vekselberg kept other major assets out of the reach of U.S. authorities by making use of the Treasury Department’s 50 percent ownership rule, which stipulates that it is illegal to transact with firms only if an owner under sanction controls more than 50 percent of the business.

For example, a month after Treasury imposed sanctions on Vekselberg in April 2018, his Renova Innovation Technologies sold its 48.5 percent stake in Swiss engineering giant Sulzer to Tiwel Holding AG, a group that is nevertheless still “beneficially owned” — meaning, owned in practice — by Vekselberg through Columbus Trust, a Cayman Islands trust, according to Sulzer’s corporate filing. Vekselberg’s longtime right-hand man at Renova, Alexei Moskov, replaced one of Vekselberg’s direct representatives on the board. Moskov told The Washington Post that he stepped down from all his executive positions at Renova Group in 2018 after U.S. sanctions were first imposed and from that moment ceased to be Vekselberg’s employee.

The attempts to circumvent the sanctions appear to have found some success in the U.S. legal system. Columbus Nova, a U.S.-based asset management fund controlling more than $100 million in assets in the U.S. financial and tech industry, is run by Vekselberg’s cousin, Andrew Intrater. The firm battled for more than two years to lift a freeze on Columbus Nova’s assets, imposed by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control because of the sanctions on Vekselberg, and won, reaching a settlement agreement with the Treasury Department. After renaming itself Sparrow Capital LLC, Columbus Nova successfully argued that Intrater — not Vekselberg — owns the fund. Intrater argued that the company was 100 percent owned by U.S. citizens and that no individual or entity under sanction held any interest in it. Intrater said Columbus Nova had earned fees for managing investment funds owned by Renova. He said he had repeatedly told Treasury he would not distribute any funds to Vekselberg.

Now Osipov, the alleged manager of Vekselberg’s $90 million yacht, is attempting a similar argument as U.S. authorities seek his arrest on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and violations of sanctions law.

The federal indictment states that the Tango was owned by a shell corporation registered in the British Virgin Islands that was in turn owned by several other companies. The Virgin Islands shell company, authorities say, was controlled by Osipov, who also served in senior roles for multiple companies controlled by Vekselberg. U.S. officials also say Vekselberg ultimately controlled the other companies that owned the Virgin Islands shell company.

According to the indictment, a Tango official instructed a boat management company in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to use a false name for the yacht — “Fanta” — to disguise its true identity from U.S. financial institutions and firms, which try to avoid doing business with an entity or person under sanction.

Working at Osipov’s direction, according to the indictment, employees for Tango bought more than $8,000 worth of goods for the yacht that were unwittingly but illegally processed by U.S. firms and U.S. financial institutions, including navigation software, leather basket magazine holders provided by a bespoke silversmith, and web and computing services. The management company running Tango, run by Osipov, also paid invoices worth more than $180,000 to a U.S. internet service provider, federal prosecutors say.

The Tango was seized by the FBI and Spanish authorities in the Mediterranean not long after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and Osipov was first indicted last year. The owner of the Spanish yacht management company hired by Osipov, Richard Masters, 52, of Britain, was criminally charged last year by federal prosecutors with conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating federal sanctions law. A request for comment sent to Masters’ firm was not returned.

But in recent court documents, Osipov’s attorney argues that the yacht was not more than 50 percent owned by Vekselberg, and that the government hasn’t demonstrated it was. Barry J. Pollack, an attorney at Harris, St. Laurent and Wechsler, also says the government never warned Osipov of its novel and “unconstitutional” application of federal sanctions law.

“The government points to no precedent that supports its extraordinary interpretation and cites no authority that allows the traditional rules of statutory construction to be turned on their head,” Pollack wrote in a defense filing. The filing adds: “[Osipov] is not a fugitive because he did not engage in any of the allegedly criminal conduct while in the United States, has never resided in the United States, did not flee from the United States, and has not concealed himself.”

Still, the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program has said it will provide up to $1 million for information leading to Osipov’s arrest, warning that he may visit Herrliberg, Switzerland; Majorca, Spain; or Moscow.

The case demonstrates the extent of the U.S. commitment to tighten the screws on those seen as aiding Russian elites, even if they themselves are not closely tied to the Kremlin.

“When DOJ levels legal action against an individual or entity, they have quite a bit of evidence, especially because the threshold to press charges for money-laundering and sanctions evasion is so high,” said Kim Donovan, director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative within the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. “We’ve had quite a bit of experience targeting Russia directly, and what you’re starting to see is the U.S. go after the facilitators enabling sanctions evasion. That’s where the U.S. is focusing its efforts right now.”