MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court ruled to release three persons involved in the case of the founder of the Baring Vostok private equity firm, Michael Calvey - Vagan Abgaryan, Ivan Zyuzin and Maxim Vladimirov - from pre-trial detention center and to place them under house arrest, a TASS correspondent reported.

"The court hereby rules not to uphold the request of the investigation to extend the preventive measure in the form of detention to Abgaryan, Zyuzin and Vladimirov until May 13 and to impose a preventive measure in the form of house arrest for them," the judge announced.

The court granted the defense in connection with the fact that the collection of evidence in the case had been completed and the accused spent a year in custody. According to the decree, the three defendants will be held under house arrest until April 12.

Earlier the court extended the period of house arrest to Michael Calvey, Philip Delpale, partner of the Baring Vostok fund, and Alexei Kordichev, former director of Vostochny Bank, until May 13.

The court’s decisions have not yet entered into force and can be appealed in the court of appeal.

Baring Vostok’s case

On February 7, 2019, Serzod Yusupov, a minority shareholder in Vostochny Bank filed a complaint with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). In addition, Artyom Avetisyan, another Vostochny shareholder, along with the deputy chairman of the bank’s board Konstantin Rogov testified against Michael Calvey.

Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into the embezzlement of 2.5 bln rubles ($37.5 mln) from the Vostochny Bank on February 13, 2019. Michael Calvey is the key defendant in the case. On February 15, 2019, law enforcement agencies arrested Calvey and five others: Vagan Abgaryan, partner at Baring Vostok, Philippe Delpale, an investment partner for the financial industry sector at Baring Vostok, Ivan Zyuzin, Investment Director at Baring Vostok and also General Director of the First Collection Bureau Maxim Vladimirov and Advisor to the Management Board of Norvik Bank, Alexey Kordichev. They are all facing charges under part 4 article 159 of Russia’s Criminal Code (fraud committed on a large scale by an organized group).

Baring Vostok is one of the largest private equity firms focusing on Russia and the CIS with $3.7 bln in capital. Since 1994, the fund has poured more than $2.4 bln of investments into 70 projects in the areas of financial services, oil and gas, telecommunications and media, and into the consumer sector.