Lawyer: Investigative Committee accuses Calvey of fraud

MOSCOW, Feb 21 (PRIME) -- The Investigative Committee has accused U.S. investor Michael Calvey of fraud, Calvey’s lawyer Dmitry Kletochkin told PRIME on Thursday.

“The investigator pressed charges under article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Fraud)…He (Calvey) refused to plead guilty and to give any evidence because he wants to consult with the defense and work out a position,” Kletochkin said.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested Calvey, the founder of investment company Baring Vostok, and five other defendants for two months in a 2.5 billion ruble embezzlement case. The Moscow City Court will check the legitimacy of Calvey’s arrest on February 28.

Investigators believe that Calvey, his partner Philippe Delpal, and several other unidentified managers convinced shareholders of Orient Express Bank to vote for a compensation agreement to receive a 59.9% stake in International Financial Technology Group instead of money. The shares were valued at 3 billion rubles under the deal, while their real value amounted to 600,000 rubles.

Besides Calvey and Delpal, the court arrested Ivan Zyuzin, director for investment at Baring Vostok, Vagan Abgaryan, partner of Baring Vostok focusing on media, real estate, and construction materials projects, Maxim Vladimirov, CEO of the First Collection Bureau, and Alexei Kordichev, chairman of the board of directors of Vyatka-Bank, now known as Norvik Bank, and former CEO of Orient Express Bank.

(65.8568 rubles – U.S. $1)

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