Days after the new U.S. Attorney General issued a memo eliminating the task force responsible for targeting wealthy associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, more questions than answers remain. Several questions relate to the yacht Amadea seizure, especially with federal prosecutors in the midst of trying to effect forfeiture.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general, issued a memo to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) employees on February 5. Among other things, it directs eliminating the KleptoCapture Task Force, dating to 2022. President Joe Biden’s administration formed it to put financial pressure on Putin loyalists following the invasion of Ukraine. Similarly, Bondi’s memo eliminates the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, dating to 2010. Its purpose was to identify and seize stolen assets under kleptocrats’ possession, returning them to the countries where they belong. Instead, Bondi’s memo indicates, staff from both should focus on drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations on U.S. soil. Prosecutors associated with the KleptoCapture Task Force will return to their prior posts, the memo further states. These changes are effective for 90 days, with the possibility of being renewed or becoming permanent, Bondi adds.
The Justice Department didn’t respond to our inquiries as to the fate of Amadea by press time. Andrew Adams, who was the first head of the KleptoCapture Task Force, sounds a somewhat optimistic tone, though. In an interview with Reuters, he says task-force case work likely will continue, just not centralized at DOJ headquarters. “What you will see is a sharp decline in the pace of charges that target facilitators that are specific to Russia,” he adds.
The KleptoCapture Task Force cancellation impacts the yacht Amadea seizure directly in a few ways. The DOJ arrested her in Fiji in May 2022 and transferred her to San Diego in June 2022. According to the DOJ, the yacht’s then-beneficial owner, Suleiman Kerimov, violated sanctions. Kerimov holds a major stake in Russia’s biggest gold producer and is Russian legislator. Initially, he was sanctioned in 2018 over allegations of money laundering, using the U.S. financial system to pay for the yacht’s maintenance. More sanctions followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the DOJ has filed a motion for civil forfeiture, which therefore would strip Kerimov of ownership. Notably, in October 2023, another Russian filed a lawsuit attempting to block the civil forfeiture. Eduard Khudainatov, who previous ran the government-controlled oil company Rosneft, claims he owns the 348-footer (106-meter). Khudainatov is not under sanctions.
More recently, federal prosecutors and Khudainatov’s legal team have been in federal court in New York. Arguments opened January 21 over whether Kerimov is the true owner. His lawyers presented an alleged charter agreement for Kerimov, through a third party, along with photos of Khudainatov at the launch ceremony, at Lürssen. In closing arguments on February 7, DOJ lawyers urged the judge to dismiss Khudainatov’s stance, saying he’s a straw owner. The judge pledged to issue a decision quickly.
Particularly noteworthy, to date, the yacht Amadea seizure is among the highest-profile KleptoCapture seizures. Still in San Diego, the yacht is running a maintenance and insurance tab of about $750,000 per month.
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