Along with three other executives, Michael Calvey, the founder and managing partner of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund, stands accused of defrauding Vostochny Bank to the amount of $39 million.
Following Calvey’s arrest at his Moscow apartment in February, reports began circulating that the University of Oklahoma graduate had been financing the political opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In June, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and longtime Putin advisor called Calvey’s arrest a “shock to the economy” while addressing an economic forum in St. Petersburg.
The arrest “caused a surge in capital flight from the country” and will likely have a permanent impact on the future of private equity in Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The criminal case against Mr. Calver appears to have snuffed out the remaining prospects for Western private equity in Russia by jailing its last prominent cheerleader,” according to the WSJ. “Russia watchers say it also signals that Mr. Putin, after nearly 20 years in power, cares little about the foreign investment he once courted.”
Calvey, who has pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest in Moscow, began his defense in from a witness cage in a courtroom following his February arrest. “I believe in the effectiveness of the Russian judicial system,” he told a judge at the time. “I am willing to cooperate and am not going to hide from the investigation.”
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