A Russian court on Friday handed US investor Michael Calvey and SLOTXO French banker Philippe Delpal suspended sentences after convicting them of embezzlement in a high-profile case that has rattled the country's business community.
Even if they will not spend any more time in jail, Calvey and Delpal decried as "outrageous" and "shocking" a ruling that brings down the curtain on a business dispute that further damaged the investment climate in Russia and triggered an outflow of foreign capital.
Calvey, the founder of investment fund Baring Vostok who spent nearly two years in detention and under house arrest, received a suspended sentence of five years six months for a crime he said he did not commit.Delpal, who spent six months in jail before he was put under house arrest, received a four-and-a-half year suspended sentence, according to an AFP reporter in Moscow's Meshchansky district court.
He also insisted he was not guilty of any crime.
Five Russian associates who said they were innocent also received suspended sentences of between three-and-a-half years and five years.
"The court has come to the conclusion that the defendants can be reformed without being isolated from society," said judge Anna Sokova, who took more than 15 hours Thursday and Friday to read out the judgement.
All seven were also given a five-year probation period.
On Thursday, the court found Calvey, Delpal and their Russian associates guilty of "embezzlement of funds on an especially large scale."
Calvey was arrested along with Delpal in February 2019 and accused of defrauding Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($32.9 million). He spent two months in jail before being put under house arrest. He was released from house arrest last November.