{"id":3875,"date":"2021-08-02T14:22:52","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T14:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/russian-court-delays-verdicts-in-case-against-u-s-investor-calvey-and-associates.html"},"modified":"2021-08-02T14:22:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T14:22:52","slug":"russian-court-delays-verdicts-in-case-against-u-s-investor-calvey-and-associates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/russian-court-delays-verdicts-in-case-against-u-s-investor-calvey-and-associates.html","title":{"rendered":"Russian Court Delays Verdicts In Case Against U.S. Investor Calvey And Associates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael

A court in Moscow has announced a three-day postponement of the verdicts and possible sentencing of U.S. investor Michael Calvey and his associates in a high-profile embezzlement case.<\/p>\n

Judge Anna Sokova of the Meshchansky district court last month said that the court’s decisions — on a case that threatens to deal another blow to Russia’s investment reputation — would be given on August 2.<\/p>\n

But the court instead offered a new date of August 5, without giving any reason for the change.<\/p>\n

In his final testimony in a trial that is being watched closely by the international business community, Calvey said on July 19 that he and his co-defendants had acted "solely within the law."<\/p>\n

He said he believes the case is aimed at pressuring him and his associates from the Baring Vostok private equity group as part of a business dispute over control of Russia’s Vostochny Bank.<\/p>\n

The case has rattled the investment community in Russia and internationally and prompted several prominent officials and businessmen to voice concerns about the treatment of the executives.<\/p>\n

Calvey is a founder of Baring Vostok, and has been charged along with his associate Philippe Delpal, who is a French national, and five others — Russian citizens Vagan Abgaryan, Ivan Zyuzin, Maksim Vladimirov, Aleksei Kordichev, and Aleksandr Tsakunov.<\/p>\n

The case went to trial on February 2, almost two years after their arrests.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from a long-running dispute between Baring Vostok and Vostochny Bank shareholders.<\/p>\n

Baring Vostok owned a 52.5 percent in the bank, and prosecutors accuse the defendants of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($37.5 million) by persuading Vostochny Bank shareholders to approve a share deal at an unrealistically low price.<\/p>\n

The prosecution has asked the court to find Calvey guilty and give him a six-year suspended prison term, adding that Delpal should receive a five-year suspended prison sentence. The others, the prosecution said, should be given suspended prison terms of between four and five years.<\/p>\n

Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private-equity firms operating in Russia. It was founded in the early 1990s and manages more than $3.7 billion in assets. It was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia’s dominant search engine.<\/p>\n

Calvey is one of several Americans currently being held in Russia on charges they and their supporters say are groundless.<\/p>\n

Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years on espionage charges that he has vehemently rejected.<\/p>\n

Another former U.S. Marine, Trevor Reed, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 after a Moscow court found him guilty of assaulting two police officers.<\/p>\n

With reporting by Interfax and TASS <\/p>\n