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Prosecutor's office approves indictment in case of Michael Calvey

At the next stage, the case will be submitted to the court for consideration on the merits

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The General Prosecutor's Office has approved the indictment in case of Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok private equity firm, Varvara Knutova, lawyer of one of the defendants in the case, told TASS on Wednesday.

"According to our information, the prosecutor's office approved the indictment in the case of Calvey and other defendants. On Wednesday, the defense was summoned to familiarize themselves with it. At the next stage, the case will be submitted to the court for consideration on the merits," the lawyer said.

Baring Vostok’s case

In February 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 ($31.7 mln) from the Vostochny Bank on February 13. Michael Calvey is the key defendant in the case.

On February 15, law enforcement agencies arrested Calvey and five others: Vagan Abgaryan, Philippe Delpale, Ivan Zyuzin, Maxim Vladimirov and 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).

According to the initial version of the investigation, Calvey and his accomplices put together a scheme, where the "First Collection Bureau", under their control, waived its right to a 59.9% stake in a Luxembourg-based company called the International Financial Technology Group (IFTG), to the Vostochny bank to pay it back for a 2.5 billion-ruble debt. Before the deal, IFTG’s shares were valued at 3 bln rubles. However, the investigation is examining another estimate of 600,000 rubles (according to a Cyprus-based company’s valuation). That said, the Central Bank claimed that the price of these shares was close to zero, the investigator noted. The defense later challenged that appraisal of shares referring to lack of results of the financial expertise. Calvey denies all the charges and says that his prosecution is an illegal attempt of the Vostochny bank’s minority shareholders to resolve a corporate dispute.

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