Moscow Court Extends House Arrest Of U.S. Investor Calvey

A Russian court has extended the house arrest of U.S. investor Michael Calvey and his business partner, French national Philippe Delpal Delpal, until August 13.

The Moscow City Court announced the ruling on May 7, six days before a previous extension of the two men’s house arrest was set to expire.

A day earlier, the same court rejected Calvey’s appeal against another Moscow court’s decision to impound his property in the Russian capital and freeze his bank accounts.

Calvey and several other executives and employees of the Russia-based private-equity group Baring Vostok were detained in Moscow in February last year and charged with financial fraud.

They all deny any wrongdoing and say the case is being used against them in a corporate dispute over the control of a Russian bank. Calvey was released under house arrest in April 2019.

The U.S. Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan told Interfax news agency on May 6 that resolving Calvey’s case “is going to be key to getting a [U.S.-Russian] business leaders’ dialogue into gear.”

The arrests of Calvey and his associates stunned many Western investors and drew complaints from high-level Russian business leaders and government officials, who questioned the motivation of the courts and prosecutors.

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. The company was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia’s dominant search engine.

Calvey is one of two Americans currently held in Russia on charges supporters say are groundless. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, is currently on trial on an espionage charge that he denies.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS