Michael Calvey, founder of investment firm Baring Vostok, and business partner Philippe Delpal have left Russia, citing sources and lawyers from TASS, Interfax and RIA Novosti. Currently, Calvey is believed to be in the US and Delpalle is believed to be in France. They were convicted of embezzlement of 2.5 billion rubles in 2021.
“Calvi and Delpal left Russia soon after the preventive measure was lifted. Now they are in their own country, ”said the interlocutor of RIA Novosti. The preventive measure banning certain actions for investors was canceled in January 2022.
Earlier, Calvi and Delpal appealed their sentences and asked the Moscow City Court to cancel the sentence and acquit them.
“Calvey and Delpal legally left the country. No violations were committed by Michael Calvey, Calvey’s lawyer Timofey Gridnev, they were able to act without restrictions after the supreme court annulled preventive measures, and the court decision in which they were conditionally convicted has not yet entered into force,” said Calvey.
According to him, the American investor plans to return to Russia to consider his complaint. Delpal’s rep said the same thing.
Evaluation of the objection
On March 24, the Moscow City Court was to consider appeals against the decision in 2021. The judge, who opened the meeting, noted that only the preparatory part of the evaluation of the complaints would be made that day. It was later learned that the meeting was postponed to 21 April.
“The court session has been adjourned to 21 April to translate the additions to the appeals into French and to familiarize Delpal with them,” the judge said.
Gridnev’s lawyer confirmed in court that Calvey is in the United States but plans to attend the hearings if he receives a “hard to obtain” visa.
“Calvey plans to come to the meeting, but it is difficult to get a visa given current events. If he buys, he will come, ”the lawyer explained to the agency RIA Novosti.
had the right to leave
Timofey Gridnev, in an interview with socialbites.ca, stated that after the lifting of the preventive measure, the investor has the right to leave Russia, adding that his client intends to participate in the case and decides whether to obtain a visa to enter Russia.
“Michael Calvey moves freely in world space in the absence of constraints. It does not violate the law, it strictly abides by the court decisions.”
According to him, the phrase “left” the country “sounds wrong and vague.”
“When, where and why he moved is beyond my knowledge. I don’t know where he is right now and I have no intention of dealing with him. This is Calvey’s private life,” he concluded.
In May 2022, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Calvey was already outside the Russian Federation on the day of the military operation in Ukraine and did not plan to return to the country.
criminal case
Michael Calvey founded Baring Vostok in 1994 to invest in Russian companies. In 2019, at the request of Vostochny Bank board member Sherzod Yusupov, a criminal case was filed against him.
According to investigators, Calvey arranged a scheme in which in 2015 the First Collection Bureau company received a loan of 2.5 billion rubles from Vostochny, after which the shares of the Luxembourg company IFTG were transferred to the bank. The investigation claims that the securities went to pay off the loan, although their real value is 600 thousand rubles. The businessman’s lawyers do not agree with the version of the prosecution: in their opinion, the market value of the securities package was 3.8 billion rubles.
In October 2020, the First Collection Bureau agreed to reimburse Vostochny 2.5 billion rubles.
Calvey noted that it was a corporate dispute, not a financial crime. According to lawyers, the investigation did not conduct a financial review of the value of the shares. In addition, Vostochny Bank received compensation and dropped the civil case.
In August 2021, the Meshchansky Court in Moscow found the investor guilty of embezzlement of 2.5 billion rubles and sentenced him to 5.5 years of probation. His partner, Philippe Delpal, was sentenced to 4.5 years of probation. Other defendants in the case were sentenced to suspended sentences ranging from 3.5 to 5 years. Before being sentenced, Calvey spent more than a year and a half in prison and under house arrest.
The businessman described the decision as humiliating and dishonest, accusing the judge of being unwilling to understand the case. None of the defendants pleaded guilty.
“Literally hundreds of pieces of evidence have been presented to the court that my colleagues and I have always acted exclusively on the legal level and in the interests of the bank. The absence of any corpus delicti is confirmed both by the materials of the case and by all the witnesses questioned, which even the prosecutor admitted. According to him, “to be convicted of an unreported crime” is outrageous.
In January 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the restraining order for Calvey. From November 2020, between 22:00 and 6:00, he was prohibited from leaving his place of residence, using the Internet, communicating with the defendants in the case, visiting the premises of the Vostochny Bank and the First Collection Bureau, as well as leaving Russia. within five years without the permission of the authorities. In December 2022, the RBC publication, citing sources, reported that the Baring Vostok business was reorganized by splitting the main assets.