Russian oligarch’s spouse who gained divorce payout of £450m sues legal professionals
- Tatiana Soroka was awarded Britain’s largest ever divorce settlement in 2016
An oligarch’s ex-wife who scooped Britain’s largest divorce settlement is suing her legal professionals, hoping for as much as £600million – greater than she was initially awarded.
Tatiana Soroka claims Fiona Shackleton’s agency, which secured her £453million victory towards her Russian husband in 2016, has let her down by failing to assist her seize her husband’s superyacht Luna.
Built for former Chelsea proprietor Roman Abramovich, the ten-deck floating palace is the world’s second-largest expedition yacht and has two helipads, a pool and mini submarine.
Papers lodged on the High Court by Ms Soroka’s new legal professionals declare Baroness Shackleton’s agency, Payne Hicks Beach, acted ‘negligently’ by not alerting legal professionals in Florida that Luna was moored in Miami and could possibly be seized to assist fulfil the settlement. But PHB insists Ms Soroka’s declare is misconceived and says it stays happy with the deal it secured for her.
Ms Soroka’s file £453million divorce payout was the most recent in a string of triumphs for Baroness Shackleton, nicknamed ‘Steel Magnolia’ for her ruthless pursuit of her shoppers’ pursuits.
Tatiana Soroka (proper, then generally known as Tatiana Akhmedova) claims Fiona Shackleton’s (left) agency let her down by failing to assist her seize her husband’s superyacht Luna
Farkhad Akhmedov (pictured) is the Russian billionaire on the centre of Britain’s largest divorce case
MV Luna is a 377ft superyacht that was initially constructed for Roman Abramovich earlier than being purchased by Farkhad Akhmedov in 2014
She represented King Charles and Sir Paul McCartney of their divorces, memorably having a jug of water poured over her by a livid Heather Mills when the previous mannequin was awarded simply £24million of the £125million she had sought from the previous Beatle.
But in Ms Soroka’s case, issues soured after the settlement cash didn’t materialise from her ex-husband Farkhad Akhmedov, despite the oil and gasoline tycoon being ordered to pay up by a choose. Ms Soroka, 51, instructed PHB to chase billionaire Mr Akhmedov, 68, for the cash.
Her authorized declare, lodged final month, states that she spoke to Baroness Shackleton and one other PHB solicitor on the telephone in January 2017 and instructed them that her ex was in Miami and so was his 377ft yacht.
She requested them to ‘discover choices in Miami’ for having the ‘extraordinarily invaluable’ Luna seized, on condition that its value had been put at round £200million, the courtroom papers state.
In 2016 Ms Soroka secured an astounding £453million sum with the assistance of her formidable lawyer Fiona Shackleton (pictured)
The ten-deck floating palace is the world’s second-largest expedition yacht and has two helipads, a pool and mini submarine
The vessel options two helipads, an enormous swimming pool, and its personal mini submarine, together with 9 decks and area for 52 crew
But it’s alleged that whereas PHB did contact a Florida lawyer to hunt his recommendation, they ‘wrongly and negligently’ knowledgeable him ‘that Farkhad had no belongings within the USA, when the truth is … the Luna was docked in Miami’.
PHB should have knowledgeable the US lawyer that ‘Farkhad due to this fact did have a (very invaluable) asset within the USA’, the declare states. In the tip, the yacht was in a position to sail away with out being impounded.
During her five-year quest to have her ex-husband’s belongings seized, Ms Soroka assembled groups of specialists together with former members of the Royal Navy’s elite Special Boat Service. Then, in July 2021, the couple introduced that they had come to a brand new personal settlement, with Ms Soroka agreeing to take £100million in money and £50million in art work.
From that she needed to pay £74.6million to her monetary backers, Burford Capital, over the failed asset hunt. She is now claiming from PHB a sum ‘considerably in extra of £10million’.
Ms Soroka, 51, instructed PHB to chase billionaire Mr Akhmedov, 68, for the cash
Ms Soroka’s file £453million divorce payout was the most recent in a string of triumphs for Baroness Shackleton
Although the precise determine will not be specified, her declare states that if PHB had acted otherwise, there was a ‘very actual probability’ she would have acquired the ‘full sum due’ beneath the unique divorce settlement, or a major proportion of it, and ‘now claims from PHB damages representing the worth of that misplaced alternative’.
A calculation by the Mail based mostly on obtainable figures suggests the utmost worth of this ‘misplaced alternative’ is £303million. Added to that the Burford £74.6million, and the curiosity she is claiming plus different prices, the entire she is hoping to recoup seems near £600million. Whether she would ever get that sum, or whether or not her declare is deemed to have benefit, stays to be seen. The case remains to be at an early stage and has not gone to trial.
A spokesman for PHB mentioned: ‘Payne Hicks Beach stay happy with the outcome we achieved for Ms Soroka together with the very important award we obtained for her. A defence is being ready which can set out the premise upon which we take into account this declare to be legally and factually misconceived.’
It is known PHB additionally disputes Ms Soroka’s estimation of the sum she deserves. Ms Soroka declined to remark.
