The verdict closes a saga with diplomatic ramifications and which has above all significantly deteriorated the investment climate in Russia for two years. Arrested on February 14, 2019 with five partners of the Russian investment fund Baring Vostok – a sixth had been in December of the same year – Philippe Delpal had spent six months in preventive detention, followed by two years of very strict surveillance in his home in Moscow. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the affair“Thorn” in bilateral relations with Russia.
Accused of embezzlement, Michael Calvey, founder and director of the company, and Philippe Delpal were sentenced by a Russian court on Friday August 6 to respectively 5 years and six months and 4 years and six months in prison, suspended. noted a journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP) present in the courtroom.
Their Russian colleagues Alexeï Korditchev, Vagan Abgarian, Maxim Vladimirov, Alexandre Tsakounov and Ivan Ziouzin were given suspended sentences ranging from three years and six months to five years in prison. The guilt of all the condemned was “Fully proven”, said Judge Anna Sokova, while highlighting “Extenuating circumstances”, in particular for MM. Calvey and Delpal who have minor children in their care and have never been tried before this trial.
“The verdict is regrettable and deeply unfair”, Mr Calvey told reporters, judging “Insulting to be convicted of a crime that never took place”. ” I am in shock “, launched for his part Mr. Delpal. “My colleagues and I are completely innocent”.
Extremely low acknowledgment rate
Philippe Delpal, Michael Calvey – one of the biggest foreign investors in Russia – and their five Russian partners faced up to ten years in prison for siphoning 2.5 billion rubles (29 million euros) from a bank Russian. The defendants denounce from the start an accusation mounted from scratch by rivals with political levers at the highest level of the Russian state.
According to Mr. Calvey’s lawyer, Timofei Gridnev, “The court continues to stubbornly accuse Calvey and his partners of embezzlement for non-repayment of loans, while, according to the bank itself, these loans were repaid in 2017 (…). This is what the interference of the criminal in civil law can lead to. “
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