Russian oligarch's ex-wife who was awarded £453m in Britain's biggest divorce claims he is 'hiding his assets including a £350m superyacht bought off friend Roman Abramovich to avoid paying her'

  • Tatiana Akhmedova claims Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov is hiding assets
  • Her lawyers say he is using complex financial systems to keep money to himself
  • His £1billion fortune includes a £350 superyacht he bought from Chelsea owner
  • She is at the High Court to force him to payout £450million divorce settlement

The ex-wife of a Russian oligarch at the centre of a £453million divorce battle claims he is hiding assets to avoid paying her.

Lawyers for Tatiana Akhmedova say her ex husband is using a series of complex financial systems to keep the money to himself.

They told the High Court in London that gas and oil tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov, 62, has so far not handed over any of the money he was ordered to pay.

He is also accused of attempting to keep a £350million super yacht, bought from his close friend and Chelsea football club owner Roman Adramovich, out of his wife's reach when their marriage ended.

Tatiana Akhmedova, pictured with her legal team, has been awarded ownership of her ex-husbands £183million superyacht Luna after he 'tried to hide it from her' by transferring its ownership through an array of offshore companies

Tatiana Akhmedova with her legal team as she leaves the High Court in central London today

Mrs Akhmedova. who carried a red handbag and wore a floor length black coat, says her ex husband is using a series of complex financial systems to keep the money to himself.

Mrs Akhmedova. who carried a red handbag and wore a floor length black coat, says her ex husband is using a series of complex financial systems to keep the money to himself.

Mr Akhmedov was ordered to give his ex, who he married more than 20 years ago, £453million at a hearing in 2016.

It is believed to be Britain's biggest ever divorce payout. 

Mr Akhmedov appears on a US list as one of a number of senior politicians and oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin who could face sanctions, to punish Russia for interfering in the US election.

Dakis Hagen QC, representing Mrs Akhmedova, today told the High Court, sitting at the Old Bailey, that she is seeking further orders to prevent Mr Akhmedov concealing his assets to avoid a payout.

He said: 'The context of this application is the husband's further use of ciphers, nominee companies and alter-ego off-shore entities to hide his assets and frustrate Your Lordship's orders from December 2016.' 

Tatiana Akhmedova
Farkhad Akhmedov

Mrs Akhmedova (left) who became the legal owner of the £350million superyacht today, and her former husband Farkhad Akhmedov (right)

The court heard how Mr Akhmedov bought the luxury motor yacht, which boasts nine cabins with enough room for 18 guests in February 2014.

But Mr Hagen said he 'engineered the transfer of the boat' to a better protected company in Panama when he realised the marriage was over, so she would be unable to acquire it. 

Mrs Akhmedova has now become the 'legal and beneficial owner' of the boat, after Mr Justice Haddon-Cave agreed in principle to her application to own the vessel. 

Failing the transfer of the boat, she is to be awarded £356million, which is the yacht's value.

The Luna, which boasts the largest swimming pool on any of the world's super yachts, was seized after docking in Dubai last month.

Judges previously described Mr Akhmedov as having demonstrated a 'naked determination' to keep his immense fortune out of the clutches of his former wife.

He was hit with a worldwide asset freezing order two years ago by the judge who slammed his 'cavalier attitude' to the English courts.

The oligarch has so far refused to accept the divorce court ruling because he insists that the British courts have no jurisdiction over a marriage between Russians.

In a statement last month he said: 'The British courts should never have sought to interfere in a former marriage which took place in Russia, between two Russian citizens and which had long been dissolved in that country with generous provision for my ex-wife.

The Luna, pictured, bought from Roman Abramovich in 2014, was seized when it entered Dubai earlier this year for maintenance  

The gas and oil trader's fortune is estimated to be worth nearly £1billion including this superyacht bought from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich

Mr Akhmedov says he pays his former wife to 'live like royalty' and has given her the family home in Weybridge (above)

Mr Akhmedova says he pays his former wife to 'live like royalty' and has given her the family home in Weybridge (above)

'In seeking a new settlement of that marriage both my ex-wife, for whose lavish lifestyle I have always provided, used the British courts in an opportunistic bid for financial gain.

'It is wrong that the British legal system gave her and her lawyers the opportunity to do so.

'I shall continue to defend all my rights in other jurisdictions, as will those responsible for the trust holding my family's wealth. I believe other courts will act in a more reasonable and less partial manner than the British courts have done.'

Mr Akhmedov married his ex-wife more than 20 years ago. They moved to London in 1993 and Ms Akhmedova, 41, raised their two sons. Their marriage broke down in 2014. 

In their divorce she argued she was due almost half of her former husband's £1billion fortune because of her 'equal contributions to the welfare of the family' during their marriage.

She was handed the contents of the couple's former home, valued at almost £2.5million, as well as Akhmedov's £350,000 Aston Martin and his £90million modern art collection.  

The tycoon's vast fortune includes a sprawling estate in St Jean Cap Ferat, France

The tycoon's vast fortune includes a sprawling estate in St Jean Cap Ferat, France

Her ex-husband and a Panamanian company holding most of his assets were also ordered to stump up a £350million lump sum. 

During their marriage, the couple enjoyed a glitteringly lavish lifestyle, with a £39m mansion in Surrey, as well as a £27.8m holiday home.

He has a rags-to-riches story which saw him arrive in Moscow from his native Azerbaijan aged 15 'with 48 roubles in his pocket'.

The billionaire - who started out selling sable furs - made his fortune when he sold shares in Russian company, ZAO Northgas, in 2012 for almost £1billion. 

Earlier this year the Trump Administration published a list of senior politicians and oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin as part of a sanctions law designed to punish Russia for interfering in the US election.

The list includes 114 senior figures in President Putin's government and 96 oligarchs worth over $1 billion each.

But President Putin has blasted the US for releasing the list, calling it a 'hostile step' that will further damage US-Russian ties.   

Who is on the Putin list of shame? The Russian oligarchs Trump could hit with sanctions

The first part of the list features 'senior political figures' in Russia.

Presidential Administration

Anton Vayno - Head, Presidential Administration

Aleksey Gromov - First Deputy Head, Presidential Administration

Sergey Kiriyenko - First Deputy Head, Presidential Administration

Magomedsalem Magomedov - Deputy Head, Presidential Administration

Vladimir Ostrovenko - Deputy Head, Presidential Administration

Dmitriy Peskov - Deputy Head, Presidential Administration; Presidential Press Secretary

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is one of many people close to President Putin who is on the Trump list

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is one of many people close to President Putin who is on the Trump list

Vladislav Kitayev - Chief of Presidential Protocol

Andrey Belousov - Aide to the President

Larisa Brycheva - Aide to the President

Vladislav Surkov - Aide to the President

Igor Levitin - Aide to the President

Vladimir Kozhin - Aide to the President

Yuriy Ushakov - Aide to the President

Andrey Fursenko - Aide to the President

Nikolay Tsukanov - Aide to the President

Konstantin Chuychenko - Aide to the President 

Yevgeniy Shkolov - Aide to the President

Igor Shchegolev - Aide to the President     

Aleksandr Bedritskiy - Adviser to the President, Special Presidential Representative on Climate Issues 

Sergey Glazyev - Adviser to the President 

Sergey Grigorov - Adviser to the President

German Klimenko - Adviser to the President

Anton Kobyakov - Adviser to the President

Aleksandra Levitskaya - Adviser to the President

Vladimir Tolstoy - Adviser to the President

Mikhail Fedotov - Adviser to the President, Chairman for the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights 

Venyamin Yakovlev - Adviser to the President

Artur Muravyev - Presidential Envoy to the Federation Council 

Garry Minkh - Presidential Envoy to the State Duma

Mikhail Krotov - Presidential Envoy to the Constitutional Court 

Anna Kuznetsova - Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights 

Boris Titov - Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights

Mikhail Babich - Plenipotentiary Representative to the Volga Federal District

Aleksandr Beglov - Plenipotentiary Representative to the Northwestern Federal District 

Oleg Belaventsev - Plenipotentiary Representative to the North Caucuses Federal District 

Aleksey Gordayev - Plenipotentiary Representative to the Central Federal District 

Sergei Menyaylo - Plenipotentiary Representative to the Siberian Federal District 

Yuriy Trutnev - Deputy Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary Representative to the Far Eastern Federal District 

Vladimir Ustinov - Plenipotentiary Representative to the Southern Federal District 

Igor Kholmanskikh - Plenipotentiary Representative to the Urals Federal District 

Aleksandr Manzhosin - Head, Foreign Policy Directorate 

Vladimir Chernov - Head, Directorate for Interregional and Cultural Ties to Foreign Countries 

Oleg Govorun - Head, Directorate for Social and Economic Relations with the Commonwealth of Independent States, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia  

Cabinet of Ministers 

Dmitriy Medvedev - Prime Minister 

Igor Shuvalov - First Deputy Prime Minister 

Sergey Prikhodko - Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Government Apparatus 

Aleksandr Khloponin - Deputy Prime Minister

Vitaliy Mutko - Deputy Prime Minister

Arkadiy Dvorkovich - Deputy Prime Minister 

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) appeared on the list. Medvedev has been accused by Russian opposition activists of large-scale corruption, claims he denies

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) appeared on the list. Medvedev has been accused by Russian opposition activists of large-scale corruption, claims he denies

Olga Dolodets - Deputy Prime Minister

Dmitriy Kozak - Deputy Prime Minister

Dmitriy Rogozin - Deputy Prime Minister

Mikhail Abyzov - Minister for Liaison with Open Government 

Aleksandr Tkachev - Minister of Agriculture

Vladimir Puchkov - Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Natural Disasters

Nikolay Nikiforov - Minister of Communications and Mass Media

Mikhail Men - Minister of Construction, Housing and Public Utilities 

Vladimir Medinskiy - Minister of Culture

Sergey Shoygu - Minister of Defense 

Maksim Oreshkin - Minister of Economic Development 

Olga Vasilyeva - Minister of Education and Science 

Aleksandr Novak - Minister of Energy

Aleksandr Galushka - Minister of Far East Development 

Anton Siluanov - Minister of Finance 

Sergey Lavrov - Minister of Foreign Affairs 

Veronika Skvortsova - Minister of Health

Denis Manturov - Minister of Industry and Trade 

Vladimir Kolokoltsev - Minister of Internal Affairs 

Aleksandr Konovalov - Minister of Justice 

Maksim Topilin - Minister of Labor and Social Protection

Sergey Donskoy - Minister of Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology 

Lev Kuznetsov - Minister of North Caucuses Affairs 

Pavel Kolobkov - Minister of Sports

Maksim Sokolov - Minister of Transportation 

Other senior political leaders 

Valentina Matviyenko - Chairwoman, Federation Council

Sergey Naryshkin - Director, Foreign Intelligence Service

Vyacheslav Volodin - Chairman, State Duma

Sergey Ivanov - Presidential Special Representative for the Environement, Ecology and Transport

Nikolay Patrushev - Secretary, Security Council

Vladimir Bulavin - Head, Federal Customs Service

Valeriy Gerasimov - First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff

Igor Korobov - Chief, Main Intelligence Directorate General Staff (GRU), Ministru of Defense

Rashid Nurgaliyev - Deputy Secretary, Security Council

Georgiy Poltavchenko - Governor of Saint Petersburg

Serget Sobyanin - Mayor of Moscow

Yuriy Chayka - Prosecutor General

Aleksandr Bastrykin - Head, Investigative Committee

Viktor Zolotov - Director, Federal National Guard Service

Dmitriy Kochnev - Director, Federal Protection Service

Aleksandr Bortnikov - Director, Federal Security Service (FSB)

Andrey Artizov - Head, Federal Archive Agency

Yuriy Chikhanchin - Head, Financial Monitoring Federal Service

Aleksandr Linets - Head, Presidential Main Directorate for Special Programs

Aleksandr Kolpakov - Head, Presidential Property Management Directorate

Valeriy Tikhonov - Head, State Courier Service

Aleksey Miller - Chief Executive Officer, Gazprom

Igor Sechin - Chief Executive Officer, Rosneft

German Gref - Chief Executive Officer, Sberbank

Oleg Belozerov - General Director, Russian Railways

Andrey Kostin - Chairman-Management Board, VTB

Sergey Budargin - Chief Executive Officer Rosseti

Boris Kovalchuk - Chief Executive Officer, Inter RAO

Aleksey Likhachev - General Director, Rosatom

Nikolay Tokarev - Chief Executive Officer, Transneft

Andrey Akimov - Chief Executive Officer, Gazprombank

Nail Maganov - General Director, Tatneft

Vitaliy Savelyev - Chief Executive Officer, Aeroflot

Andrey Shishkin - Chief Executive Officer, ANK Bashneft

Yuriy Slyusar - Chief Executive Officer, United Aircraft Corporation

Nikolay Shulginov - Chief Executive Officer, RusHydro

Sergey Gorkov - Chief Executive Officer, Vneshekonombank

Sergey Ivanov (Jr) - Chief Executive Officer, ALROSA

Roman Dashkov - Chief Executive Officer, Sakhalin Energy

 

The second part of the list features 96 oligarchs worth over $1 billion each 

List of oligarchs  

Aleksandr Abramov

Roman Abramovich

Araz Agalarov

Farkhad Akhmedov

Vagit Alekperov

Igor Altushkin

Billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (pictured) made his fortune in oil and aluminum during the chaotic years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

Billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (pictured) made his fortune in oil and aluminum during the chaotic years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

Aleksey Ananyev

Dmitriy Ananyev

Vasily Anisimov

Roman Avdeyev

Petr Aven

Yelena Baturina

Aleksey Bogdanov

Leonid Boguslavskiy

Andrey Bokarev

Oleg Boyko

Nikolay Buynov

Oleg Deripaska

Aleksandr Dzhaparidze

Leonid Fedun

Gleb Fetisov

Mikhail Fridman

Aleksandr Frolov

Russian cyber security tycoon Eugene Kaspersky is the founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, a firm whose technology has 400 million users in 32 countries around the world

Russian cyber security tycoon Eugene Kaspersky is the founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, a firm whose technology has 400 million users in 32 countries around the world

Filaret Galchev

Sergey Galitskiy

Valentin Gapontsev

Sergey Gordeyev

Andrey Guryev

Yuriy Gushchin

Mikhail Gutseriyev

Sait-Salam Gutseriyev

Zarakh Iliyev

Dmimitry Kamenshchik

Vyacheslav Kantor

Samvel Karapetyan

Yevgeniy Kasperskiy

Sergey Katsiyev

Suleyman Kerimov

Igor Kesayev

Danil Khachaturov

Billionaire Kirill Shamalov (pictured) was rumoured to have been married to Vladimir Putin's daughter. But there have been reports in Russia that the pair have split

Billionaire Kirill Shamalov (pictured) was rumoured to have been married to Vladimir Putin's daughter. But there have been reports in Russia that the pair have split

German Khan

Viktor Kharitonin

Aleksandr Klyachin

Andrey Kosogov

Yuriy Kovalchuk

Andrey Kozitsyn

Aleksey Kuzmichev

Lev Kvetnoy

Vladimir Lisin

Anatoliy Lomakin

Ziyavudin Magomedov

Igor Makarov

Iskander Makhmudov

Aleksandr Mamut

Andrey Melnichenko

Leonid Mikhelson

Yuriy Milner

Boris Mints

Andrey Molchanov

Aleksey Mordashov

Vadim Moskkovich

Aleksandr Nesis

God Nisanov

Aleksandr Ponomarenko

Sergey Popov

Vladimir Potanin

Mikhail Prokhorov

Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy

Megdet Rakhimkulov

Andrey Rappoport

Viktor Rashnikov

Arkadiy Rotenberg

Boris Rotenberg

Dmitriy Rybolovlev

Ayrat Shaymiyev

Radik Shaymiyev

Kirill Shamalov

Yuriy Shefler

Albert Shigabutdinov

Mikhail Shishkhanov

Leonid Simanovskiy

Andrey Skoch

Akeksandr Skorobogatko

Rustem Sulteyev

Aleksandr Svetakov

Gennadiy Timchenko

Oleg Tinkov

Roman Trotsenko

Alisher Usmanov

Viktor Vekselberg

Arkadiy Volozh

Vadim Yakunin

Vladimir Yevtushenkov

Gavril Yushvayev

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