13 May 2020

Divorcee owed £450 million waits for rulings on latest round of legal fight

13 May 2020

A woman trying to get her hands on nearly £450 million she is owed by her Russian billionaire ex-husband is waiting for rulings on the latest round of a legal fight.

Tatiana Akhmedova was awarded a 41.5% share of businessman Farkhad Akhmedov’s £1 billion-plus fortune by a British judge in late 2016.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, who analysed the case at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London, said Ms Akhmedova should get £453 million.

But judges have heard she has so far received about £5 million and that Mr Akhmedov has not “voluntarily” paid a penny.

Mr Akhmedov has said that because he and his ex-wife are not British, and were not married in Britain, a British judge should not have made decisions.

Ms Akhmedova, who has taken legal action in London and abroad, says he has tried to put assets, including a £346 million yacht, the MV Luna, and a modern art collection, beyond her reach.

She is now also taking legal action against her son, Temur, and says he has played a “central role” in putting assets beyond her reach.

Temur, a trader who lives in London and is aged in his mid-20s, disputes allegations made against him.

Another judge is overseeing that litigation.

Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles has considering a number of preliminary issues over the past three days at a virtual hearing in the Family Division of the High Court.

Temur wants Mrs Justice Knowles to bar reporters covering hearings from revealing detail of his personal financial information.

He has also raised concern about the way his mother is funding litigation.

He says his mother has entered into funding “arrangements” with a private investment company which are “unlawful”.

He wants Mrs Justice Knowles to bar Burford Capital from continuing to provide funding.

Ms Akhmedova has raised objections to both of those applications.

Mrs Justice Knowles is expected to deliver rulings on both issues in the near future.

Further hearings are scheduled for later in the year.

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