MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Founder of the Baring Vostok private equity firm, Michael Calvey, who is accused of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($33.7 mln), said in court on Wednesday that he is going to seek the verdict of acquittal to continue investing in the Russian economy, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.
"We look forward to continuing hearings on the merits and an early completion of the process in order to return to what we do best: invest in Russian companies," Calvey said after a regular hearing in the Meshchansky Court of Moscow was over.
He noted that exactly two years had passed since the criminal case was opened. "This case is groundless, there are no victims, no corpus delicti, or any evidence. These two years, my innocent colleagues and I have lost the opportunity to work properly, lost precious time of life," he stressed.
On Wednesday, the court heard the testimony of Calvey, in which he spoke about the circumstances of banking operations in 2015 the investigation regarded as a crime. However, during the testimony, Calvey said the actions the investigation regarded as embezzlement were a necessary measure to save Vostochny Bank.
Baring Vostok’s case
On February 13, 2019, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into the embezzlement of 2.5 bln rubles ($33.7 mln) from the Vostochny Bank following a complaint by Serzod Yusupov, a minority shareholder in Vostochny Bank, filed with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Michael Calvey is the key defendant in the case.
According to the investigation, Calvey put together a scheme to embezzle 2.5 bln rubles in the course of lending funds to the First Collection Bureau company in 2015.
On February 15, 2019, law enforcement agencies arrested Calvey and five others: Vagan Abgaryan, a partner at Baring Vostok, Philippe Delpal, an investment partner for the financial industry sector at Baring Vostok, Ivan Zyuzin, investment director at Baring Vostok, along with General Director of the First Collection Bureau Maxim Vladimirov and Alexey Kordichev, an advisor to the Management Board of Norvik Bank. They are all facing charges under Part 4 Article 160 of Russia’s Criminal Code (fraud committed on an especially large scale by an organized group).