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A megayacht as soon as valued at greater than $300 million was offered by the U.S. authorities for $187 million to an Emirati billionaire whose household has a enterprise partnership with the Trump Group, in accordance with authorities paperwork and yacht trade executives.
Amadea, a 348-foot yacht seized by federal authorities in 2022, was a part of a monetary crackdown on Russian oligarchs following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. After a prolonged authorized battle, the yacht was auctioned off by order of the Justice Division in September.
Neither the value nor the customer was introduced by the federal government, but a authorities doc reveals the acquisition worth was $187 million. The customer was Abbas Sajwani, the 27-year-old son of Dubai property tycoon Hussain Sajwani, whose firm DAMAC Properties has partnered with the Trump Group.
Hussain Sajwani appeared with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago final yr to announce a $20 billion funding in U.S. information facilities by one among Sajwani’s firms. On the press convention, Trump launched Sajwani as “one of the revered enterprise leaders within the Center East and certainly the world.”
Neither Hussain Sajwani, Abbas Sajwani nor DAMAC responded to requests for remark. The Division of Justice and White Home declined to remark.
CEO of DAMAC Properties Hussain Sajwani makes remarks subsequent to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Seaside, Florida, U.S. January 7, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
In 2022, the U.S. seized Amadea off the coast of Fiji as a part of a crackdown on Russian oligarchs. The seizure was the best profile take a look at case for “Activity Pressure KleptoCapture,” a program created by the Biden administration to sanction Russian oligarchs and seize the property of violators. The Justice Division alleged Amadea was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian mining tycoon who had been underneath sanctions since 2018.
U.S. authorities employed a brand new crew and sailed Amadea to San Diego. It remained docked in San Diego Bay for 3 years throughout a prolonged authorized battle over its possession. To take care of the yacht and crew, and pay insurance coverage and docking charges, the authorities spent between $600,000 to $1 million a month, or an estimated $36 million in complete, throughout its time underneath U.S. management.
After a forfeiture order from a U.S. District Courtroom choose, Amadea was ordered to be auctioned on Sept. 10, 2025. The public sale, which occurred a month later, was overseen by the U.S. Marshals Service, part of the Justice Division. The director of the Marshals Service is Gadyaces Serralta, who was appointed by Trump and sworn in on Aug. 1, weeks earlier than the Amadea public sale. The bids had been sealed and submitted to the Marshals Service, which was answerable for choosing the successful bid.
The Marshals Service by no means introduced the winner.
“The USMS doesn’t routinely disclose or verify the id of the customer when promoting property,” a spokesperson for the Marshals Service stated in a press release. “That data is withheld underneath federal privateness exemptions except ordered launched by federal courts.”
When it was seized, the Justice Division cited numerous valuations for Amadea. Early filings by the justice division cited a spread of “between $300 million and $500 million” and equally of “greater than $300 million.” In a 2024 submitting, the Justice Division quoted an unbiased valuation of $230 million.
Mega-yacht Amadea of sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, seized by the Fiji authorities on the request of the U.S., arrives on the Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii, on June 16, 2022.
Eugene Tanner | AFP | Getty Photos
Registration paperwork confirmed {that a} month after the $187 million sale, Amadea was registered by Past Holding Group Ltd., a British Virgin Islands holding firm that lists a headquarters handle in Dubai that is the identical as DAMAC’s.
The federal government hasn’t introduced a use for the Amadea proceeds. A U.S. assist bundle signed into legislation in Might 2024 gave the federal government the power to grab Russian state property positioned within the U.S. and use the proceeds to learn Ukraine.
The sale caps a turbulent and controversial historical past for Amadea. In-built 2017 by Lurssen, the yacht has six decks and accommodates 16 company and 36 crew. It has a glass “winter backyard,” infinity pool with a swim-up bar, movie show with movement seats for a “4D expertise” and a celebration deck with built-in audio system, lights and laser beams. It additionally boasts a spa with a hammam, sauna and chromotherapy pool in addition to a lobster tank within the galley for recent seafood.
In June, Abbas Sajwani gave Forbes a tour of Amadea anchored off the coast of Monaco. Sajwani informed Forbes he had rejected a proposal from one other purchaser to purchase Amadea “for rather more, within the lots of of hundreds of thousands.”
“I really like the boat’s inside, I really like the type,” he stated. “It is lovely.”
Amadea’s most well-known function is a five-ton stainless-steel sculpture of an albatross figurehead wrapped across the bow. After his buy, Sajwani transformed the helipad on the bow deck right into a pickleball courtroom.
The Forbes article would not focus on a sale worth. Of the public sale, it says: “As luck would have it, Sajwani prevailed. His undisclosed successful bid was solely $1 million above the subsequent highest.” The article would not specify how Sajwani knew the worth of the opposite bids.
Demand for high-quality megayachts like Amadea has soared because the pandemic. With the variety of billionaires on this planet rising to over 3,500, and elite shipyards straining to fulfill demand with lengthy waitlists, costs for preowned yachts proceed to rise. In 2025, gross sales of preowned yachts of 30 meters or extra rose 36%, to $6.44 billion, in accordance with Fraser Yachts.
Yacht monitoring information offered to CNBC from VesselFinder reveals that after the public sale, Amadea sailed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. Yacht trade executives stated the journeys had been for minor repairs and upgrades to Amadea.
Within the Forbes interview, Sajwani stated when he isn’t in Dubai he runs his actual property enterprise from the Amadea.
“Many individuals say they go on a ship for a vacation,” he informed Forbes. “For me, it isn’t the case. It is extra of a spot to stay.”
Abbas Sajwani’s firm, known as AHS Properties, purchased the Shangri-La Lodge in Dubai for a reported $300 million and is creating luxurious properties alongside the Dubai Water Canal. Forbes estimates his web value at $1.9 billion.
Though the Iran battle has slowed Dubai’s once-hot property market, Sajwani informed Forbes, “The Dubai market continues to be very wholesome, there’s a whole lot of demand.”
Sajwani’s father, Hussain, is called the “Donald of Dubai” for his glitzy actual property developments and ties to Trump. In 2013, DAMAC fashioned a partnership with the Trump Group to construct the primary Trump-branded golf course within the Center East. The course opened in 2017.
In accordance with The New York Instances, DAMAC paid the Trump Group hundreds of thousands of {dollars} earlier than the golf course was constructed and subsequent administration charges. A second Trump-branded golf course with DAMAC was deliberate however has been delayed. In April 2025, Hussain Sajwani shared pictures of a breakfast on the White Home, the place he mingled with Elon Musk.
