A Russian billionaire’s ex-wife battling for a £453million divorce payout has hired former SBS operatives to seize the £225million super yacht at the centre of the row.
The specialist asset recovery team has been instructed to take the 115metre Luna from Farkhad Akhmedov following a series of court actions over the vessel.
It is the centrepiece of a £453million settlement, only a fraction of which has been received by ex wife Tatiana.
The dramatic move comes just a month after a judge ordered her eldest son to pay the £75million he helped his father hide.
Temur Akhmedov, 27, was accused of acting as his father’s ‘lieutenant’ to hide a fortune of nearly £70million owed to her, which led to a ruling ordering to pay her around £75 million.
The hiring of a the team used to secure the enormous boat will be led by former members of the British Special Boat Service – the naval version of the SAS.
Tatiana’s lawyers confirmed to MailOnline: ‘The Marshall Islands courts have formally awarded the M/Y Luna to Tatiana, we are of course using all options available to us to recover her as part of the rightful settlement awarded to Tatiana.
‘We have therefore retained the services of a specialist company to retrieve all assets owed to our client.’
Farkhad Akhmedov, 64, (left) an oil and gas tycoon, was found to have used his son Temur, 27 as a ‘lieutenant’ and colluded with him to conceal his fortune so that he would not have to pay ex-wife Tatiana Akhmedova, 48, (right) even ‘a penny’ following Britain’s most expensive ever divorce case in 2016
In 2014, Mr Akhmedov bought a 377ft super-yacht called Luna (pictured) for an eye-watering £225million
The team recovering the boat will be former members of the SBS, not seen in archive picture
Assets separately seized so far include the yacht’s private £5million Eurocopter and its £1.5million Torpedo speed boat, customised with a 1965 Ferrari GTO steering wheel. A £40million global express jet has also been seized.
The Luna remains under an international arrest warrant in Port Rashid. This was after an attempt by Farkhad to have her towed into international waters by tug was thwarted.
It was built for Roman Abramovich in 2010 before being sold to Farkhad in 2014 for £225million.
It has at nine decks, space for 52 crew, two helipads, a vast swimming pool and a mini submarine.
Luna also has one of only two multipurpose custom made lifeboat-limousines in the world at a cost of over £2.8m each.
At the centre of the battle was the £225million superyacht – which he was ordered to hand over to his former wife after a judge held he had tried to hide it from her in an ‘elaborate’ plan to ‘evade and frustrate’ her by moving the 377ft vessel between an array of offshore companies
Pictured: The 115m yacht is the focus of Britain’s most costliest divorce
As one of the world’s super yachts Luna boasts a 20-metre outdoor swimming pool (above), a helicopter landing pad and a mini-submarine
It was bought by Akhmedov from his friend Chelsea owner Roman Abramovitch in 2014
They are capable of acting as VIP transport and being lifeboats at the same time. Ownership of the vessel was recently transferred to Tatiana by the flag state in a crucial legal victory.
Any assets leaving the ship will be seized on land wherever possible, according to Tataina’s legal team.
In 2017, the helicopter was seized when landing at an airport near Bodrum, Turkey.
Bailiffs instructed pilots to move the helicopter into nearby Greek airspace before a lengthy journey back to the Isle of Man.
The divorce case is noted as one of the largest and most bitter divorce cases to go through the English courts.
During their marriage the couple enjoyed an incredibly lavish lifestyle, with a £39million mansion in Surrey as their family home, as well as a £27.8million holiday home.
Mr Akhmedov – who was previously estimated to be worth upwards of £900million – was included in a ‘Putin list’, released by the US Treasury Department, which gives the names of 210 prominent Russians with close ties to the Kremlin.
He owns a £90million art collection and has a private jet valued at around £42million.
Last month a spokesman for their son Temur said after the latest court ruling: ‘Like millions of young people, Temur has been caught up in the break-up of his parents’ marriage. He never sought to take sides or get involved but inevitably found himself sucked into the vortex of a bitter family dispute.
‘His subsequent actions were only ever motivated by his desire to end the war between his parents.
‘While he fundamentally disagrees with this judgment, he would consider it a price worth paying for should it lead to a reasonable settlement between both the parents he loves.’
At the centre of the early divorce battle was the superyacht Luna – first bought in 2014.
There have been myriad to and froing over the enormous vessel with courts passing different judgements on who has rights to it.
Mr Akhmedov was ordered to hand over the vessel to his former wife after a judge held he had tried to hide it in an ‘elaborate’ plan to ‘evade and frustrate’ her by moving the 377ft vessel between an array of offshore companies.
The yacht was seized by bailiffs in Dubai – with a local court refusing to return it to Mr Akhmedov.
But a different judge later changed his mind, ruling that the tycoon is the rightful owner.
Then in October last year Farkhad’s final appeal in his damages claim for the wrongful seizure of the Luna was declared ‘groundless’ by the Court of Cassation.
During the most recent UK hearings, the court heard details of the unbelievable wealth that was lavished on Temur as part of Mr Akhmedov’s determination not to give his ex-wife her divorce pay out.
Among the most sensational revelations to emerge was that Temur lost £35million ($50million) of his father’s money investing in stocks and shares in 2015 and was given millions of pounds more the following year, incurring further losses.
He told the court that he was a victim of ‘bad luck.’
Mrs Justice Knowles ruled: ‘The transfers of very large sums of money to Temur in 2015 and 2016 were driven by the husband’s overarching desire to keep his assets from the wife.
‘Temur understood his father’s purposes at the relevant times and worked with him to achieve the aim of preserving assets for the family by keeping them out of the wife’s hands.’
At 19 – while a student at the London School of Economics – Temur was given a £29million flat in One Hyde Park, the country’s most exclusive apartment block with another £5million spent on refurbishing it.
The court also heard how he was given a £120,000 Mercedes jeep at the age of 17, left home with an ‘unlimited credit card’ and later had a number of luxury cars, including a £346,000 Rolls Royce, which he claimed in court that he ‘did not know’ he owned.
The trial also heard sensational details about the breakdown within the family with Temur accusing his mother of having affairs with two men while still married to Mr Akhmedov.
Ahead of last year’s trial, Temur’s luxury London flat was raided after Ms Akhmedova successful obtained a court order for documentary and electronic evidence to be seized.
Mrs Justice Knowles noted in her ruling: ‘All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
‘With apologies to Tolstoy, the Akhmedov family is one of the unhappiest ever to have appeared in my courtroom.’
Ms Akhmedova is also involved in litigation to try and secure her divorce settlement from her ex-husband via a number of trusts and companies he established in four other countries; the US; Dubai; Russia and Liechtenstein.
She is backed by Burford Capital, a litigation finance firm that will take a slice of her payout if it succeeds in recovering her divorce settlement.
Ms Akhmedova is pictured with her son Temur in 2014 before their relationship deteriorated
A spokesman for Mr Akhmedov told MailOnline: ‘All attempts to seize Luna in Dubai have been ruled illegal by Dubai’s most senior courts. Its judges have said that the wrongful award of a second divorce settlement to Tatiana by the English High Court is unenforceable in Dubai. There is no further appeal.
‘Luna is moored alongside the MV Dubai which belongs to the Emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed. Since the English High Court is now seeking to exert itself in matrimonial proceedings against Sheikh Mohammed, maybe this phantom battalion of SBS operatives will seek to storm that at the same time as Luna.
‘The Marshall Islands ruling only involves the ‘flag of convenience’ registration certificate of the yacht. Apart from Burford’s lawyers, there is not a reliable maritime or legal opinion which believes that it will result in an enforced change of ownership.
‘The dispute over Luna’s ownership has been heard in and fully resolved in Dubai. Anyone unauthorised personnel seeking to set foot on Luna in Dubai will be arrested and jailed as the decisions of the most senior judges and courts have made plain.’
He has said previously: ‘Following the London High Court’s scandalous award to my ex-wife in 2016, Burford has embarked on a staggeringly expensive global tour of the world’s courts seeking to seize assets from me and from family trusts.
‘Having failed in four years to secure a meaningful judgment and got nothing from any court in the world, they returned to London to bring a cowardly action against our son.
‘Entirely predictably, given its original wrong and misguided judgment, the London court has ruled in favour of visiting ‘the sins’ of the father on an innocent and loyal son.’
A family spokesperson added: ‘Tatiana’s relationship with Temur is now very strange indeed.
‘There is hope, certainly from Tatiana, this relationship can be restored over time. She of course loves her son.
‘But it was appropriate she take this action and we are pleased though not surprised the High Court agrees.
‘It is important to note Tatiana is a private person, has not spoken during this case and wishes to move forward with her life.
‘She hopes she can focus on the future now she has removed Farkhad’s shadow from her life and it has been found in law she was correct in pursuing this case.’