Akhmedov Divorce Rancor Continues with Funding from Burford Capital

The largest divorce settlement in history is still unsettled. While the ex-wife of Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov was awarded over $600 million in the divorce, she has received next to nothing from her ex-husband. To combat this, she enlisted help from Burford Capital, a publicly-traded legal funder.

Baltimore Sun reports that Akhmedova is currently suing her son in a London court for almost $100 million. This includes a significant amount of cash, as well as assets such as art and property.

Because Farkhad refused to pay the settlement, Akhmedova’s legal team opted to pursue monies via the couple’s oldest son. Temur Akhmedov is a resident in the UK, which means his assets may be seized to uphold a London court ruling. The Akhmedova lawyers have asserted that Temur was instrumental in helping to hide his father’s assets from his mother—a charge that he strenuously denies.

London has long been perceived as a haven for wealthy Russians, many of whom have homes there and even stash their assets in London banks.

A “superyacht” owned by the elder Akhmedov was ordered to be handed over to Akhmedova, but the order was refused. This led to the yacht being seized and held in Dubai. Ultimately, Shariah law prevented the enforcement of Akhmedova’s claim to the yacht.

Temur has insisted that he was not involved in attempts to hide money from his mother or her legal team. However, the courts appeared to find this suspicious. An assertion that he moved $100 million in paintings to a boat for sheer aesthetic pleasure was scoffed at.

Farkhad maintains his refusal to pay the court-ordered judgment against him. Among other things, he specifically mentioned that one-third of all monies given to Akhmedova would go to litigation funder Burford Capital as part of their funding agreement.