The founder of the Baring Vostok investment fund, Michael Calvey, told Izvestia that he plans to continue working in Russia if all charges against him are dropped.… On November 12, the Supreme Court released him from house arrest. Restraint change for Calvey speaks of high chances of completing the case without negative consequences for the investment climate in Russia, experts told Izvestia… In their opinion, the subsequent trial is likely to end with the final lifting of restrictions for the founder of the investment fund.
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Revision of the measure
The Supreme Court on November 12 released the founder of the investment fund Baring Vostok Michael Calvey and other defendants in the case from house arrest and changed the preventive measure to prohibit certain actions. The new court decision is valid until January 13, 2021.
According to the media, the judge, reading the ruling, noted that the circumstances under which the persons involved in the case were chosen a preventive measure in the form of house arrest have changed… The need for this has disappeared and does not correspond to the interests of justice.
In February last year, a criminal case was opened against Michael Calvey on charges of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles from Vostochny Bank… The reason was the statement of the member of the board of directors of the bank Sherzod Yusupov. According to the investigation, the head of Baring Vostok misled the bank’s board of directors regarding the value of the shares of the First Collection Bureau (PCB) for 2.5 billion rubles in exchange for shares of the IFTG investment fund, which in fact allegedly cost much less. The charge was eventually re-qualified from fraud to embezzlement.
Except Calvey six more people are involved in this case: former director of Vostochny bank Alexei Kordichev, partners of the fund Philip Delpal and Vagan Abgaryan, director of the fund for investments Ivan Zyuzin, ex-managing director for investments of the bank Alexander Tsakunov and director of PKB Maxim Vladimirov. The investigation of the case was completed and the defendants were charged with embezzlement committed by a group of persons on an especially large scale.
In October 2020, a year and a half after the arrest of Calvey and other defendants in the Baring Vostok case, the parties entered into an amicable agreement. The first collection bureau transferred 2.5 billion rubles to the bank as damages, and bank “Vostochny”, in turn, refused a civil claim for its compensation.
Now, according to a new court decision, adopted on November 12, the defendants are prohibited from changing their place of residence, leaving their homes at certain times of the day and a number of other actions. At the same time, the arrest was lifted from part of the property of the defendants in the embezzlement case of 2.5 billion rubles, including apartments belonging to the wife of the accused Philippe Delpal and the mother of the accused Ivan Zyuzin. The Supreme Court also sent the case of the head of Baring Vostok for consideration on the merits to the Meshchansky Court of Moscow.
The businessman, answering Izvestia’s question about future plans, in case of acquittal, noted that he plans to continue working in Russia.
The Baring Vostok Foundation, founded by him, said that the criminal prosecution, which lasts a year and nine months, should be stopped… Since there is neither corpus delicti, nor victims in the case: Bank “Vostochny”, having received a refund, withdrew the civil claim. In addition, the materials of the case do not contain any evidence of the guilt of the defendants, “we are confident in the innocence of our colleagues and will continue to seek justice,” the Foundation said in a statement posted on the website.
Bank Vostochny did not promptly respond to Izvestia’s inquiry.
Positive signal
The change in the preventive measure for Michael Calvey speaks of high chances of completing the case without negative consequences for the investment climate in Russia, Pavel Utkin, leading lawyer of the Parthenon company, told Izvestia… He explained that Article 160 of the Criminal Code does not mean the termination of criminal prosecution, even despite the withdrawal of the civil claim by the plaintiff and the conclusion of an amicable agreement between the parties. Nonetheless the subsequent trial is likely to end with the final lifting of restrictions for the founder of the investment fund Baring Vostok, the expert believes… This is evidenced by his plans to stay in Russia and return to work, as well as assurances from the head of the RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, about the readiness of Calvi’s partners for new investments, the lawyer said.
The release from house arrest of the founder of Baring Vostok and his colleagues is an important signal for the entire investment community, said Tatyana Zavyalova, a member of the Russian Lawyers Association, in an interview with Izvestia.… She also drew attention to the fact that today the Arbitration Court of the Amur Region terminated the proceedings on the claim of “Vostochny” in connection with the refusal of the latter from the claim against Evison Holdings Limited.
This decision is definitely a positive signal for the business environment, agrees the head of the criminal practice of BMS Law Firm Alexander Inoyadov… But the humanity of the court, according to the expert, can be dictated not only by procedural grounds, but also by some political overtones, given that the decision was made by the Supreme Court. As for the crime itself, it was not obvious already at the stage of the initiation of the criminal case, it remains only to wish the same objectivity when considering the case on the merits, he concluded.