| After US Seizes
Russian Oligarch Yacht Sealing
Opposed by Press Now Unsealing
on Sechin
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Aug 13 – On October 23, 2023
DOJ announced the filing of a
civil forfeiture complaint
against the Motor Yacht
Amadea, a 348-foot luxury
vessel worth over $300
million, beneficially owned by
Russian oligarch Suleiman
Kerimov and maintained in
violation of applicable
sanctions against Kerimov and
those acting on his
behalf.
Inner City Press has been
covering the case from that
beginning. On August 12, 2024
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Dale E. Ho held a
proceeding about where to
depose claimant Euard
Yurievich Khudainatov. Inner
City Press live tweeted it, thread.
Late on August
12, Inner City Press submitted
a letter seeking unsealing,
cc-ing the parties: "repeated
references were made to
documents in the case not
available to the press and
public, including the
Claimant's August 7, 2024
filing of an Expert
Declaration and Safe Passage
letter and the
Government's sealing of
Special Agent McGee's
declaration about, at a
minimum, why the US Government
opposes holding the deposition
in the UAE. Also, if not yet
unsealed, Exhibit Z to the
Jude Declaration. Dkt
136. These should be unsealed,
as should the other sealed
filings in this case,
including all "documents
placed in vault." In cases
where only a name could be
redacted - the expert witness,
for example (Dkt 151) the
entire filing should not be
sealed." Letter on
DocumentCloud here.
On August 13,
several documents were ordered
unsealed. For now, just
unsealed is DOJ's assertion
that Khudainatov "is the
longtime deputy to Igor
Sechin... the second-most
feared person in Russia."
Judge Ho cited Judge Ronnie
Abrams decision on Inner City
Press' successful - and
docketed - application to
unseal Paduch's suretors, as
before with SBF. We'll have
more on this - there should be
more unsealing.
More on X for
Subscribers here
& Substack here
The case is
United States of America v.
The M/Y Amadea, a Motor Yacht
Bearing International Maritime
Organization No. 1012531,
Including All Fixtures,
Fittings, Manuals, Stocks,
Stores, Inventories, and Each
Lifeboat, Tender, and Other
Appurtenance Thereto,
23-cv-9304 (Ho)
***
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Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2024 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
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