The FBI said that while searching for a yacht confiscated on behalf of the US as part of its pressure campaign against Russia over the Ukraine invasion, Fiji authorities discovered documentation implicating the yacht's suspected owner, Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, in violating US law.

The Amadea arrived in Fiji on April 13 following an 18-day cruise from Mexico and has since been the subject of a US bid to seize it as part of the US sanctions against Russia.

Fiji police and FBI officers seized the Amadea at a port on Thursday, two days after a Fiji court approved a US warrant linking it to money laundering.

On Friday, the Fijian High Court denied a stay appeal filed by the yacht's registered owner, Millemarin Investments, to prevent US authorities from removing the vessel from Fiji, the country's public prosecutor said in a statement.

The $300 million superyachts had been turned over to US authorities.

The FBI stated in an affidavit accompanying the US seizure request that Fiji officials discovered records on the Amadea indicating violations of US law due to Kerimov's penalty by the US in 2018.

"There is probable cause to believe that Kerimov and those acting on his behalf and for his benefit caused U.S. dollar transactions for the operation and maintenance of the Amadea to be sent through U.S. financial institutions, after a time which Kerimov was designated by the Treasury Department," the FBI stated.

The company stated that the vessel's operating expenditures were estimated to be between $25 million and $30 million.

Attorneys for the registered owner, Millemarin Investments of the Cayman Islands, have denied that Kerimov owns it. Feizal Haniff, the vessel's lawyer, declined to comment to Reuters on Friday.

The US says that Kerimov has beneficially possessed the Amadea since August 2021, although the warrant contains no evidence to support this assertion.

According to the FBI, the Amadea attempted to evade capture "almost immediately" after Russian troops entered Ukraine.

"Amadea turned off its automated information systems (AIS) on February 24, 2022, almost immediately after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine," the FBI stated.

Russia refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a "special operation" aimed at disarming the country and defending it from fascists. Ukraine and the West maintain that the fascist charge is unfounded and that the war is an unjustified act of aggression.

Although the vessel's papers indicated that it was destined for the Philippines, the FBI believed it was heading to the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok.

Since March, the FBI stated, numerous Russian oligarchs have attempted to relocate their yachts to Russia to avoid US penalties.

The US Justice Department's Taskforce KleptoCapture has concentrated on seizing yachts and other luxury items to strain the finances of Russian billionaires and exert pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the Ukraine crisis.

In a statement following the seizure of the Amadea in Fiji, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated: "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."