Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov’s ex-wife, Tatiana Soroka, who scooped Britain’s biggest divorce settlement, is insatiable. The very determined woman is back in the news for suing the lawyers who won her the massive $640 million settlement in 2016. The reason? They could not secure her ex-husband’s 377ft superyacht Luna, and after all these years, she still isn’t over the pleasure craft. Soroka claimed Fiona Shackleton’s firm let her down by failing to help her seize her husband’s superyacht Luna. Her new legal team acted against Shackleton’s Payne Hicks Beach for negligence and not alerting lawyers in Florida to impound the superyacht Luna, which was moored in Miami, and ultimately fulfilling the settlement.
Per Dailymail, Tatiana tipped Baroness Shackleton and another PHB solicitor on the phone in January 2017, informing them that her ex was in Miami, and so was his 377-foot megayacht. The last few years have been an unquenchable quest to get ex-husband Akhmedov’s assets seized.
Ms. Soroka didn’t bat an eyelid before suing her then 27-year-old son Temur Akhmedov for supporting his father and acting as his ‘lieutenant’ to hide a fortune of nearly $99 million owed to her. She went all out for the lovely Luna yacht and hired specialists, including former members of the Royal Navy’s elite Special Boat Service, to gain control.
In July 2021, the couple announced they had come to a new private settlement, with Ms. Soroka agreeing to take £100 million in cash and £50 million in artwork. But that didn’t save her legal team from Payne Hicks Beach from facing her wrath for losing what can be dubbed the love of her life, the $353 million Luna. While the exact figure is not specified, her claim demands from PHB damages representing the value of that lost opportunity of receiving the full sum of her headline-making divorce.
If it is the nine-decker megayacht she is referring to as a lost opportunity, then PHB better be prepared to cough up nearly $386 million in addition to the interest she is claiming, plus other costs, bringing the total to a whopping £600 million ($765 million). The case is still at an early stage and has not gone to trial. A spokesman for PHB said: ‘Payne Hicks Beach remain proud of the result we achieved for Ms. Soroka, including the very significant award we obtained for her. A defense is being prepared which will set out the basis upon which we consider this claim to be legally and factually misconceived.’
The Luna a superyacht so splendid its worth fighting for –
The woman who divorced her oligarch husband had her heart set on the magnificent nine-deck floating palace that was the world’s second-largest expedition yacht. The vessel, worth $353 million, boasts two helipads, a pool and mini-submarine, an anti-missile defense system, and two lifeboat limousines worth $4 million each.
The 377-foot motor yacht has a whopping 80 TVs on board, 10 large VIP rooms, and space for 52 crew. The superyacht, originally built for Roman Abramovich before being bought by Farkhad Akhmedov in 2014, was once a symbol of immense wealth. The Azerbaijani-Russian billionaire, aged 68, worth $1.1 billion, started off by selling furs in international markets.
Later, he founded and headed the Tansley Trading company, specializing in the supply of equipment for the oil and gas industry of the USSR, and also traded in oil and oil products. He also invested in Northgas from Bechtel, an American construction company. Sanctioned by the EU and U.K. in April 2022, the Luna yacht was frozen in Germany.
