MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. The lawyers of Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok private equity firm, who was handed a suspended sentence of 5.5 years for embezzlement, have appealed against the court’s verdict, a spokesperson with the Meshchansky court in Moscow told TASS.

"The defense of Calvey, as well as of Philippe Delpal and other defendants in the case, filed an appeal against the verdict. The date for its consideration by the Moscow City Court has not yet been set," the court’s official said.

According to the case file on the court’s official website, the lawyers of all seven convicts filed appeals.

Earlier, Calvey was found guilty of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($33.6 mln) and handed a suspended sentence of 5.5 years. Philippe Delpal, Baring Vostok’s partner, was handed a suspended sentence of 4.5 years. Other defendants in the case also received suspended sentences: Alexey Kordichev (3.5 years), Vahan Abgaryan (4.5 years), Maxim Vladimirov (4 years), Ivan Zyuzin (5 years), Alexander Tsakunov (4 years). The court set the probation period for them at 5 years.

The verdict will not come into force until the consideration of the complaints by the Moscow City Court.

Calvey’s case

On February 13, 2019, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into the embezzlement of 2.5 bln rubles ($33.6 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 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 the lack of results from the financial investigation. Calvey denies the charges and calls the prosecution against him an illegal attempt by the Vostochny bank’s minority shareholders to solve a corporate dispute.