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A bitter dispute involving one of the world’s wealthiest families will be played out at London‘s High Court today when the ex-wife of a Russian oligarch sues her son, alleging that he colluded with his father to prevent her receiving a multi-million-pound divorce settlement.
Tatiana Akhmedova, 52, secured a landmark £453million pay out from her ex-husband Farkhad Akhmedov, 64, an oil and gas tycoon, following the end of their 27-year marriage in 2016.
Her lawyers will claim at the High Court today that the divorce settlement, Britain’s largest ever, remains ‘almost entirely unsatisfied,’ blaming her son Temur, 27 for helping to hide his father’s considerable assets and acting as his ‘lieutenant.’
His mother claims to have received only £5million and a rusty helicopter.
This week Temur, 27, faces a deeply painful showdown with his mother, Tatiana Akhmedova, at the Royal Courts of Justice (pictured: Ms Akhmedova, centre, and Temar, right)
Tatiana Akmedova (right) is accusing her son Temur (left) of helping his father to hide assets from her and British authorities after she was awarded a landmark payment of £453million in a 2016 divorce
In addition to half of Mr Akhmatov’s billion-pound fortune, assets at stake include a private jet, an Aston Martin, Holland & Holland shotguns and a £115million art collection featuring paintings by Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Damien Hirst.
Ms Akhmedova is due to give evidence today at the start of a three-week hearing, where she will come up against her son with relations between the two broken down and the bitter split tearing apart the wider family.
The start of the trial was delayed after Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles was told that Temur was in Russia, and was no longer represented by lawyers.
The judge asked Temur, via a video link, why he had travelled to Russia and was not in London.
Temur, who disputes allegations made against him, told the judge that he had been trying to get a loan to pay legal fees and ‘got stressed’ and ‘scared’.
Speaking ahead of today’s hearing, Temur said: ‘Imagine being sued by your own mother.
Farkhad Akhmedov (pictured), who made his money from oil and gas, claimed he has given Tatiana millions of pounds to pay for her luxurious lifestyle and numerous household staff
Akhmedova was handed ownership of the couple’s £20m Surrey home (pictured) and an art collection worth more than £30m [File photo]
In addition to half of Mr Akhmedov’s billion-pound fortune, assets at stake include a private jet and an Aston Martin (pictured)
‘It is horrible and should never have come to this. I have done nothing wrong. My mother told me, ‘I gave birth to you so you should be on my side’.
‘But I said, ‘I’m sorry, loyalty isn’t dictated by who gave birth to you’. I didn’t seek to take sides, to pick one parent over the other.’
He added: ‘I told her I wanted to be on the side of what is right. And then I asked her why, since she gave birth to me, she is putting me through this.’
Although Mr Akhmedov is said to have offered his ex-wife £100million to settle, she has pursued him through the courts in five countries, with today’s High Court action the latest in a series of high-profile legal battles.
She has already failed in a legal bid to seize her ex-husband’s mega yacht Luna in lieu of payment of her divorce settlement.
Worth more than £350million, it once belonged to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and boasts an onboard spa, two heliports, a mini-submarine and a missile detection system.
After numerous legal battles stretching over a year, a court in Dubai ruled that Mr Akhmedov was the rightful owner and allowed him to keep the super yacht.
Assets at stake include a £115million art collection featuring paintings by Andy Warhol (pictured), Mark Rothko and Damien Hirst
Holland & Holland shotguns (pictured) are amongst the potential assets at stake during the legal battle
Temur last spoke with his mother in February but since then she has mounted a series of legal moves against him in the run up to today’s hearing.
He has been served with a worldwide freezing order preventing him from transferring funds or selling any assets, which also limits his spending to £3,000 per week.
Last month, members of his mother’s legal team raided Temur’s £30million London apartment at One Hyde Park, Britain’s costliest block of flats, which was given to him by his father when he was aged 19, to search for documentation relevant to the case.
According to court documents, 58 electronic devices were seized from the luxury flat including mobile phones, memory sticks and even a Peppa Pig game.
An underground car park and wine cellar were also searched for any evidence that he helped his father to stop his money from being seized by the British courts.
Temur, a London commodities trader, described his mother’s behaviour as ‘outrageous’ and ‘revengeful,’ insisting that there was no chance of a reconciliation between them.
The jewel in the crown for both sides is the Luna, a £350million superyacht that used to belong to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (pictured)
Akhmedova has gone to great lengths to try and claim the money she was granted in the ruling, attempting to seize Farkhad’s mega yacht Luna (pictured), which is worth more than £350m in lieu of payment [File photo]
He added: ‘No, it’s finished. How can you have a relationship with someone who wants to give you up like that?
‘I have no relationship with her anymore, the divorce broke everything.’
In other legal action, a US court ordered Google to turn over all of Temur’s emails to his mother’s legal team.
Ms Akhmedova said in a court filing that the information from the emails would be used to learn whether Temur assisted his father in the fraudulent transfer of assets, and if so, to win her divorce judgment against him.
Ms Akhmedova was 17 when she met her husband, then 34, and they married four years later in 1993, moving to London later that year.
Mr Akhmedov has already been found in contempt of court for failing to pay the settlement in full after protesting that he does not recognise the High Court’s ruling on how much he should give his ex-wife.
He claims that they did not marry in Britain and were not British citizens when they divorced and that a British judge should not have made the decision on their financial settlement.
Mr Akhmedov also alleged that he and his wife actually divorced 20 years ago in Russia after she had an affair with a younger man, but this was rejected by the High Court in 2016 during their divorce hearing.
His ex-wife’s costly litigation is being backed by Burford Capital, the law-suit funding firm which has been bankrolling her luxurious lifestyle.
According to documents, last year the company paid her £15million to cover living expenses while her claim is being pursued and stands to receive a share of anything that is recovered.
Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles is scheduled to hear evidence and legal argument at the High Court over the next three weeks.
She is due to hear part of the trial remotely – and sit in London to hear evidence on certain days.
