Washington Says Aware Of Arrest Of Businessman Calvey In Russia, Pledges Protection

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2019) A spokesperson for US State Department, commenting on the case of US financier, founding partner of Baring Vostok Capital Partners private equity fund Michael Calvey, who was arrested in Russia on fraud charges, said on Saturday that Washington was aware of the case and that the protection of US citizens abroad was the country's main priority.

Calvey was detained on Friday alongside five other suspects on suspicions of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($38 million) from Vostochny Bank, something Calvey has denied. On Saturday, a Moscow court ruled to place Calvey into a two-month custody. The other five suspects in the case were arrested for two months on Friday. The businessman's lawyers said they would appeal the court's decision.

"We are aware that a U.S. citizen was arrested on February 14, 2019 in Russia. We have no higher priority than the protection of U.S. citizens abroad. Due to privacy considerations, we do not have any additional information at this time," the spokesperson said.

The list of arrested persons also includes Baring Vostok's investment director Ivan Zyuzin, the company's industry partner for the financial industry sector Phillipe Delpal and partner Vagan Abgaryan, as well as former head of Vostochny Bank Alexey Kordichev and FCB head Maxim Vladimirov. All those arrested face up to 10 years in prison on charges brought against them.

According to court materials, the Russian Investigative Committee initiated a case on a large-scale fraud with a damage of more than 2.5 billion rubles ($37.7 million) on February 13 on the materials received from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The case concerns a loan received by the First Collection Bureau (FCB) from Vostochny Bank in 2015 and a compensation for release from obligation signed by FCB head in 2017.

According to investigators, Calvey, Delpal and other unidentified persons convinced the bank's shareholders to vote for signing an agreement on compensation, according to which, instead of returning the debt to Vostochny, 59.9 percent of the shares in International Financial Technology Group were transferred to the bank. Their value was put at 3 billion rubles despite the fact that their real market value was 600,000 rubles.