A Moscow court has ordered that the pretrial detention of Maksim Vladimirov, a partner of jailed U.S. investor Michael Calvey, be extended until January 13.
Basman district court Judge Irina Vyrysheva on October 9 said she agreed with investigators' assertions that Vladimirov could attempt to hide or destroy documents relevant to the case or try to pressure witnesses if he were released.
The court also extended until January 13 the house arrest of another suspect in the high-profile case, Aleksei Kordichev. The court said Kordichev, the former chief of Vostochny Bank, has pleaded guilty and testified against other suspects in the case.
The rulings came a day after the Moscow court extended the house arrest of Calvey and another person charged in the case, Frenchman Philippe Delpal, also until January 13.
Other business partners of Calvey and Vladimirov -- Vagan Abgarian and Ivan Zyuzin -- remain in pretrial detention.
Calvey and several other executives and employees of the Russia-based private-equity group Baring Vostok were detained in Moscow in February and charged with financial fraud.
Calvey denies any wrongdoing and says the case is being used against them in a corporate dispute over the control of Vostochny Bank.
The arrests stunned many Western investors and drew complaints from high-level Russian business leaders and government officials, who questioned the motivations of the courts and prosecutors.
Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private-equity firms operating in Russia since the early 1990s, managing more than $3.7 billion in assets. The company was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia's dominant search engine.
