"The Trump administration has shut down major anti-corruption programs that had been at the vanguard of international efforts to clamp down on money laundering involving corrupt political leaders, politically connected business interests, and transnational criminal groups.One program called the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative had drawn praise for, among other cases, targeting Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's late president. Another, called KleptoCapture, was set up to target Russian oligarchs after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022."
"Not so fast, said lawyers for Eduard Khudainatov, a former top executive of the Russian state oil giant Rosneft, who argued that he was the true owner and that the US government's case was flimsy and not backed up by evidence. In March, a US court ruled in favor of the Justice Department, setting the stage for the auction. A U.S.-based spokesman for Khudainatov did not respond to requests for comment. Khudainatov could not be reached for comment."
The Amadea is a 106-meter luxury yacht valued at $325 million with features including a helicopter pad, pool, jacuzzi and a winter garden on the sun deck. The vessel was seized in Fiji in 2022 by the US Justice Department on allegations it belonged to sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. Eduard Khudainatov has contested ownership, arguing the government's case lacks evidence; a US court ruled for the Justice Department in March. A US-government-ordered auction is scheduled for September 10. The Trump administration's shutdown of kleptocracy initiatives raised questions about whether the seizure and sale would proceed.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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