We’ve been watching the case of the divorce between Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov and his ex-wife Tatiana for quite a while now. The 114m Luna yacht became the centrepiece of a £453 million settlement, only a fraction of which has been received by Tatiana.
The yacht was delivered to another Russian businessman, Roman Abramovich, in 2010 and was sold to Farkhad Akhmedov for $360 million in April 2014. She’s got the massive refit and was delivered in 2016.
In October 2017, the yacht entered Port Rashid, Dubai, for maintenance, where it was "effectively impounded" by court order due to an ongoing legal dispute over couples divorce settlement. A UK court ruled in April 2018 that the yacht should be transferred to Ms Akhmedov, sending the decision to Dubai for further proceedings.
In August 2018, a Dubai court rejected an appeal filed by Farkhad Akhmedov to lift a freezing order on Luna.
The yacht was released by Dubai court in March 2019.
And here’s the latest chapter: two days ago, special-forces veterans, hired by Tatiana, stormed the 114m expedition vessel, a month after a judge ordered Farkhad Akhmedov’s son, Temor, to pay the £75million he helped his father hide.
“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,” MailOnline quoted Tatiana's lawyers as saying.
We will continue following this case.
Credits: Yacht Harbour; Open sources