Baku. 21 January. REPORT.AZ/ Russian oil tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov fighting high court ruling over payout calls on international police agency to stop the seizure of his assets, Report informs citing The Guardian.
After more than three years fighting a high court ruling ordering Akhmedov to pay Tatiana Akhmedova, who is British, hundreds of millions of pounds, his lawyers have involved the international police agency Interpol in their attempts to stop her from seizing his assets. The highly unusual development has triggered claims that Akhmedov’s lawyers are abusing the legal process, claims that have been strongly rejected.
Lawyers acting for Akhmedov, who was born in Azerbaijan but has indefinite leave to remain in the UK, argued that he had made a “stellar” contribution to his wealth creation, which meant that he should not have to give his wife, a British citizen since 2000, almost half of his fortune. Crucial to Akhmedov’s defence was the claim that an earlier divorce between the couple – in Moscow 19 years ago – supersedes the UK judgment, making his ex-wife’s attempts to seize his assets a fraudulent act.
Interpol Russia informed Interpol Lichtenstein that it was investigating claims from Akhmedov and his lawyers regarding the “misappropriation” of his assets on a “large scale”, based on a “fraud” committed by his ex-wife.