Tatiana has struggled to get other courts to recognize the London rulings. Dubai’s local courts rejected its determination of a matrimonial dispute, after Farkhad argued it was incompatible with shariah law. “It is effectively impossible” to enforce English judgments in Liechtenstein, a London judge bemoaned.
But for Tatiana, the most powerful court recognition of all may have come from a tiny island chain, thousands of miles away in the Pacific.
A ship is bound by the law of the flag it flies, and the Luna carries the flag of the Marshall Islands. Earlier this year, a local court sided with Tatiana in a judgment that would allow her to be declared the new owner of the yacht.
The court cited “a pattern of conduct” by Farkhad as it granted judgment in his former wife’s favor. The actions taken by the billionaire and the Liechtenstein trust were for the purpose of “hindering, delaying and avoiding satisfying English money judgments,” it said.
Farkhad’s spokesman dismissed the ruling, saying “there is not a reliable maritime or legal opinion which believes that it will result in an enforced change of ownership.”
Battling On
That leaves Dubai, where the Luna is stuck and slowly depreciating in value. One broker put her value as having fallen to $110 million.
While Tatiana’s side has hired an asset-recovery firm backed by former military operatives, providing fodder for London’s tabloids to gleefully talk of special forces raids on the yacht, ultimately Tatiana needs to get assistance from the emirate’s local courts.
“We’re the owner, and Dubai is going to have to recognize that,” says James Power, a U.S. lawyer for Tatiana, who argued the case in the Marshall Islands courts. “They’re going to have to twist themselves into a pretzel to ignore that.”
Power is one of many lawyers funded by Burford Capital, the litigation company that will take 30% of any assets recovered in exchange for financing the hunt, according to court documents. As of last year, it had put up 18 million pounds on the litigation.
Burford’s cash enabled Tatiana to sue her son Temur in London to try and seize local assets, including his luxury apartment overlooking Hyde Park.
The judge ordered Temur to pay his mother more than $100 million for doing “all he could” to prevent her from obtaining her court-approved divorce payment.
After the ruling, a spokesman for Temur said that “while he fundamentally disagrees with this judgment, he would consider it a price worth paying should it lead to a reasonable settlement between the parents he loves.”
But the judgment enraged Farkhad.
“Burford has embarked on a staggeringly expensive global tour of the world’s courts seeking to seize assets from me and from family trusts,” he said in a statement.
For now, the biggest prize—the Luna—remains in Farkhad’s hands. Tatiana’s lawyers aren’t losing hope, though.
“People with money can always delay things but in the end it always catches up with them,” said Power.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.