Moscow Court Rules to Arrest US Businessman for 2 Months in $37Mln Fraud Case

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Basmanny Court in Moscow decided on Saturday to place US businessman, founder of the company Baring Vostok, Michael Calvey into custody for two months over the Bank Vostochny fraud case, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

"The investigator's request is satisfied", judge Artur Karpov said, which means that Calvey will be jailed at least until April 13.

Calvey's lawyer has said that the legal defence will file an appeal to challenge the verdict.

READ MORE: Moscow Court Detains Baring Vostok Founder on Suspicions of Investment Fraud

According to the lawyer, Calvey said that his legal opponent, co-owner of Vostochny Bank Artyom Avetisyan, and the company Finvision Holdings Limited, who are engaged in the legal dispute with Calvey in the London Court of International Arbitration, had launched procedures in Cyprus in order to prevent him from speaking in his defence.

The US businessman believes that Avetisyan, who from his point of view initiated his legal prosecution, is afraid of information that may be disclosed by Calvey.

Calvey, who was detained on Friday on suspicion of large-scale fraud, has denied involvement in embezzling 2.5 billion roubles ($37.5 million) from Vostochny Bank. The list of persons detained along with Calvey includes Baring Vostok's Investment Director Ivan Zyuzin, Industry Partner for the financial industry sector Phillipe Delpal, and Partner Vagan Abgaryan as well as two more people.