The ex-wife of a Russian oligarch has revealed the dramatic moment she was told by her 21-year-old son that he had lost £35 million ‘in an instant’ trading in stocks and shares- but cannot remember asking him where he got the money from.
Tatiana Akhmedova told the High Court that she had no idea that her son Temur Akhmedov was trading ‘real money’ and that she rushed from her £20million Surrey home to ‘console him,’ when informed about it in late 2015.
Ms Akhmedova said: ‘I was shocked. He (Temur) was extremely upset. I travelled to London to console him.’
When asked by Robert Levy, QC, representing Temur if she asked him where he got such a large amount of money from, Ms Akhmedova replied: ‘I don’t remember asking him directly if it came from his father or not.’
Tatiana Akhmedova (pictured) told the High Court that she had no idea that her son Temur Akhmedov was trading ‘real money’ and that she rushed from her £20million Surrey home to ‘console him,’ when informed about it in late 2015
She added: ‘I didn’t know about the amounts he was trading. It was only in late 2015, when he lost $50 million (£35 million) that I knew he was trading real money.’
Ms Akhmedova, 48, is suing her eldest son Temur, 27, over claims that he acted as his father’s ‘lieutenant’ and colluded with him to conceal his fortune and ensure that she did not receive a landmark £453 million divorce pay out.
Temur denies allegations against him and says his mother’s claim should be dismissed.
Ms Akhmedova secured Britain’s largest divorce settlement from Farkhad Akhmedov, 64, an oil and gas tycoon, following the end of their 27-year marriage in 2016.
But judges have heard that she has so far received about £5million and Farkhad Akhmedov has not voluntarily paid a penny.
Ms Akhmedova alleges that her ex-husband gave Temur more than £90 million in total and set up a complex web of trusts and companies with his help to ensure that she did not get her divorce settlement.
Ms Akhmedova, 48, is suing her eldest son Temur (pictured), 27, over claims that he acted as his father’s ‘lieutenant’ and colluded with him to conceal his fortune and ensure that she did not receive a landmark £453 million divorce pay out
This included placing his £350 million super yacht and £100 million art collection into the ownership of a Liechtenstein trust.
Temur’s legal team claim that the money was given to him by his father for ‘investment purposes’ and that Ms Akhmedova was aware of this.
They also maintain that the riches bestowed on him by his father was because he is a ‘generous man’ who was providing for his son and wanted to set him up on his own as a trader.
Mr Levy told the court that Temur made his mother aware of his £35 million loss via a WhatsApp message, in which he wrote: ‘Mum, I lost $50 million in an instant.’
The court also heard that in 2105 and 2016, Temur lost more than a staggering £52 million given to him by his father trading on the stock market.
Mr Levy told the court that Temur had not acted as his father’s ‘lieutenant’ in hiding his wealth but accepted that Mr Akhmedov had tried to put his assets beyond his ex-wife’s reach.
Ms Akhmedova secured Britain’s largest divorce settlement from Farkhad Akhmedov (pictured), 64, an oil and gas tycoon, following the end of their 27-year marriage in 2016
He said: ‘It’s clear that Farkhad engaged and contemplated various schemes with an express purpose of ensuring assets were kept as far as possible from this lady’s (Ms Akhmedova) reach. You would have to be mad to read the papers in any other way.
‘But I don’t accept that an extremely generous father’s provisions for his children is effected by the same bad intention as these schemes of evasion.’
When asked by Mr Levy if she would describe her ex-husband as a generous man, Ms Akhmedova replied: ‘I would not say that. That’s subjective.’
The court has already heard details about how Mr Akhmedov purchased Temur a £29 million flat, which cost a further £5 million to refurbish in Britain’s most expensive apartment block, while he was still a student. Another £7.5 million flat was bought for his younger brother Edgar.
At the age of 17, Temur was given a £120,000 Mercedes jeep and a year later he left home and was given a limitless credit card.
Mr Levy told the court: ‘He (Mr Akhmedov) may have been mean of spirit but he was financially generous. It’s obvious that he was.
‘He bought the kids flats at a cost of £45 million. Temur’s first car was a very expensive car.’
Mr Levy asked Ms Akhmedova: ‘Why not generous? I would say it was wanton generosity that’s probably damaging to a young person but generosity nonetheless.
‘This was a man who was dangerously generous to his children, long before the divorce.’
When pressed about Mr Akhmedov’s generosity, his ex-wife replied: ‘I can’t put it this way.’
The hearing continues.