The US successfully secured the Fijian government's help on Tuesday in seizing a superyacht ----Amadea -- suspected to be belonging to Russian gold tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, who is under American sanctions.
Christopher Pryde, Fiji's director of public prosecutions, has filed an application in the High Court under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, seeking to prevent the Amadea from leaving Fijian waters.
The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act extends powers to the US to search and seize assets in Fiji.
The ex-parte application requested that "the motor yacht Amadea be restrained from leaving Fijian waters until the finalisation of an application to register a warrant to seize the property and (ii) that a US warrant to seize the Amadea be registered".
Later this week, US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will meet senior Fijian officials during their visit to Pacific countries.
The delegation will "seek to further deepen our enduring ties with the region and advance a free, open, and resilient Indo-Pacific".
The luxury vessel, longer than a football field, is worth over $250 million.
Fijian police arrested the crew of Amadea on 13 April over their failure to obtain customs clearances before anchoring in Fijian territorial waters.
The US has vowed to find and seize assets of Russian businessmen as part of the sanctions pressure campaign waged by Washington against Russia amid Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.
On 4 April, US authorities seized a $90 million yacht belonging to Russia's Viktor Vekselberg in Spain, the first asset seizure since it launched massive sanctions.
The US had launched a special task force dubbed the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force (REPO) on 16 March to seize Russian assets such as ships, luxury real estate and private aircraft.