MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court has upheld the seizure of property of Philippe Delpal, partner of Baring Vostok private equity firm, a spokesperson with the court told TASS.
"The Moscow City Court has dismissed the appeal against the decision of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow on extending the term of applying the measure of procedural compulsion in the form of seizure of Delpal’s property," the judge announced the decision.
According to the case file, the Russian authorities seized Delpal’s accounts holding 11,000 rubles, 960 euros, 415 Australian dollars, 143 US dollars and 430 Swiss francs.
According to the investigation, the seized money can be used to compensate for damage in case a guilty verdict is delivered. The authorities also seized Delpal’s apartment.
Baring Vostok’s case
On February 7, Sherzod 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. Michael Calvey is the key defendant in the case.
On February 15, law enforcement agencies arrested Calvey and five others: Vagan Abgaryan, Philippe Delpal, Ivan Zyuzin, Maxim Vladimirov and Alexei 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 ($35.2 million) debt. Before the deal, IFTG’s shares were valued at 3 bln rubles ($42.2 million). However, the investigation is examining another estimate of 600,000 rubles, or about $8,450 (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.