The mysterious death of a Russian billionaire has sparked a British court battle between his girlfriend and ex-wife over the fortune he left behind.
Vladimir Alekseyevich Scherbakov was 56 years old and had been under Kremlin investigation for fraudulent claims. He was then hanged at his home in Belgium.
His death came despite him reportedly being ‘excited’ that the charges against him could soon be dropped.
The tussle over his huge fortune – which includes the £12million Surrey mansion he shared with girlfriend Brigita Morina, 41 – has now reached London’s High Court.
Miss Morina – a former creative director of Swiss watchmakers DeLaneau – claims two wills he made in England left almost all his fortune to her and her children.

The tussle over his huge fortune – which includes the £12million Surrey mansion he shared with girlfriend Brigita Morina, 41 – has now reached London’s High Court
But the originals of the wills have ‘not been found’. His ex-wife Elena Vladimirovna Scherbakova, and Alexander and Olga Scherbakova, are claiming that his fortune should be divided equally among all of his children.
The financier and Miss Morina are said to have ended their relationship after he died in June 2017, and even though he made wills for her, they had to be torn apart when he moved to Belgium.
He married Mrs Scherbakova, Russia in 1989. They later settled in Belgium.
According to court documents, Mr Scherbakov was married with the women. He lived for many years with each of them.

Vladimir Alekseyevich Scherbakov was 56 years old and had been under Kremlin investigation for fraudulent claims. He was then hanged at his home in Belgium
His children had been with Miss Morina. She had an older son and he was treated like his own child.
According to court papers, his other UK assets included a townhouse in Belgravia, London, and a £400,000 wine collection.
Additionally, he owned properties in Italy as well as Belgium and had offshore businesses based on the British Virgin Islands that were worth many millions of dollars. Miss Morina’s lawyer Gilead Cooper QC said the pair were still firmly a couple when he died, despite his move to Belgium.
According to the barrister, this was due to Russian criminal investigations.
Mr Cooper said: ‘It remained the deceased’s intention to return to England as soon as he felt it was safe to do so. He was told that Russia would not prosecute him. This was around April 2017. Brigita called him to inform her of his excitement at being able to go back to London.
‘However, he did not want to risk doing so until the prosecution had been formally abandoned. On June 10, 2017, [he]Belgian authorities found the body of the victim in their house. There were signs indicating a suicide.’
An earlier hearing of the preliminary matter was held this month. The full hearing on the dispute over wills is still to take place.

According to court documents, Mr Scherbakov was married with the women. He lived for many years with each of them. While he spent his time in England at Granville House, Weybridge, Surrey, with Miss Morina, he had two children.