Moscow court releases American investor Michael Calvey from detention center to house arrest

Moscow’s Basmanny Court has approved a petition for Michael Calvey, the founder of the investment firm Baring Vostok, to be placed under house arrest after spending almost two months in a pretrial detention center. Calvey has been charged with embezzling 2.5 billion rubles (almost $38,775,000). Interfax reported that Calvey was released from the control of his guards on the spot in the courtroom.

The petition to transfer the investor to house arrest was submitted by Russia’s Investigative Committee. Investigator Lyudmila Samoilenko told the court, “Investigators have determined that Calvey possesses strong social ties in Moscow. A respectable number of people have petitioned for his release, he has a steady job developing various investment projects in Russia, and he provides philanthropic help, including help for sick children.” Both the prosecution and the defense supported the investigators’ petition.

According to Interfax, Calvey himself said that he would not violate the terms of his house arrest. “For me, the question of my innocence is about my honor and my reputation, which I have been building all my life. For me, escaping a criminal case in Russia is tantamount to admitting guilt, tantamount to self-destruction… My whole life is in Russia, and everything I have done for almost the last 30 years is proof of that,” Calvey said.

Calvey will spend his house arrest in the elite Sovetnik housing complex in central Moscow. He will wear an electronic bracelet and will not have access to communication technologies or the Internet.