Washington's diplomatic stance towards Moscow has shifted substantially since US authorities seized the Amadea in 2022.
The seizure came as former Democratic president Joe Biden's administration ramped up sanctions enforcement against people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to pressure Moscow to halt its war in Ukraine.
When Republican President Donald Trump took office, attorney general Pam Bondi disbanded Task Force KleptoCapture, whose many actions targeting Russian oligarchs included high-profile cases such as the Amadea seizure.
On February 28, Trump assailed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as lacking gratitude for US aid. Trump on March 3 paused military aid to Kyiv altogether.
Zelensky had enjoyed warm relations with Biden, and has said he could salvage his relationship with Trump.
Kerimov and his family are worth $10.9bn (R199bn) according to _Forbes_ magazine, after he amassed a fortune through Russian gold miner Polyus.
He was sanctioned by the US treasury department in 2014 and 2018 over Russian activities in Syria and Ukraine.
Prosecutors said he violated the sanctions by making more than $1m (R18.3m) of maintenance payments on the yacht.
Khudainatov is not subject to US sanctions. Ford has said prosecutors had no witnesses to establish Kerimov owned the Amadea.
“There's simply nothing to connect Suleiman Kerimov to the vessel,” Ford said at a January 21 court hearing.
At the hearing, prosecutor Rachel Doud said after the 2021 payment, Kerimov's family had sole use of the Amadea, using it for Mediterranean and Caribbean trips, and had been planning major renovations. The Amadea is docked in San Diego, and the US government is paying around $600,000 (R10.9bn) a month to maintain it, prosecutors have said.
**Reuters**