Russia finds U.S. investor Calvey guilty of embezzlement – report

MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian court on Thursday found U.S. investor Michael Calvey guilty of embezzlement, state news agency TASS reported, in a case followed closely by the international business community.

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FILE PHOTO: Michael Calvey, senior partner at Baring Vostok, attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

Calvey, the founder of Russia-focused private equity group Baring Vostok, was detained along with other executives in early 2019 on charges of embezzlement linked to mid-sized lender Vostochny. He and the executives deny the charges.

Calvey last month told a court that an innocent verdict in his case would trigger billions of dollars in foreign investment and help create thousands of new jobs.

Initially placed in pre-trial detention, Calvey was subsequently put under house arrest instead. The state prosecutor has asked for a six-year suspended sentence, but the court was yet to announce its decision on that.

(Reporting by Polina Ivanova;Writing by Olzhas Auyezov;Editing by Katya Golubkova and Andrew Cawthorne)