Ex-wife questions whether billionaire whose son had £29m flat was ‘generous’

The ex-wife of a Russian billionaire whose son was given a £29 million flat in London when he was 19 has questioned whether her former husband was “generous”.

Tatiana Akhmedova, 48, also questioned whether Farkhad Akhmedov, 65, was a loving father.

Ms Akhmedova, who is Russian but lives in London, is trying to get around £450 million she is owed by Mr Akhmedov following the breakdown of their marriage.

She has sued their eldest son Temur Akhmedov, a London trader, accusing him of helping his father hide assets and saying he owes her nearly £70 million.

Temur Akhmedov, 27, denies allegations against him and says his mother’s claim should be dismissed.

He says he was not his father’s “lieutenant” and Farkhad Akhmedov was the “ultimate decision-maker at all times”.

A judge is considering evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles has heard how Temur Akhmedov had been “showered” with “unimaginable amounts of money”.

He was given a Mercedes worth around £100,000 when he was 17, a £29 million flat at 19, and lost £35 million, given to him by his father, trading in stocks and shares while at university in London.

The judge has also heard that Farkhad Akhmedov bought Ms Akhmedova £400,000 of jewellery when they were married.

Barrister Robert Levy QC, leading Temur Akhmedov’s legal team, on Tuesday suggested to Ms Akhmedova that her former husband had been a “loving” and “generous” father.

She replied: “I wouldn’t say that a loving father would get his son involved in divorce proceedings.”

Mr Levy said: “He was a generous man.”

She replied: “I would not say that.”

She said she had been “shocked” to discover how much Farkhad Akhmedov had given their son to trade with, and had “jumped in the car” and “gone to London” when she learned he had lost the money.

Ms Akhmedova was awarded a 41.5% share of her former husband’s £1 billion-plus fortune by a British judge in late 2016.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, who oversaw a hearing in London, said she should receive £453 million – thought to be the biggest award of its kind made in Britain.

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

Ms Akhmedova says her former husband has tried to put assets beyond her reach and she has taken legal action in Britain and abroad in a bid to get what she is owed.

Mr Akhmedov says because he and his ex-wife are not British and were not married in Britain, a British judge should not have made a decision.

Ms Akhmedova has already been embroiled in litigation with a number of trusts based in Liechtenstein, into which Mr Akhmedov has transferred assets.

Mrs Justice Knowles had been told that Mr Akhmedov transferred a superyacht, the Luna, worth around £340 million, and an art collection worth around £110 million into the ownership of trusts in Liechtenstein.