The Moscow City Court has postponed a hearing into appeals filed by U.S. investor Michael Calvey and his associate, French national Philippe Delpal, against their 2021 convictions on embezzlement charges that they reject.
The court was initially scheduled to start the hearing on March 24, but has now moved it to April 21 for unspecified reasons.
Russian news agencies cited the businessmen's lawyers as confirming earlier reports that Calvey and Delpal are currently in the United States and France, respectively.
According to the lawyers, their clients are ready to be present at the hearings into their appeals if they obtain Russian visas.
Calvey, Delpal, and five Russian businesspeople were handed suspended prison terms in August 2021 and ordered not to leave Russia without permission.
Calvey was handed a 5 1/2-year suspended prison term, while Delpal received 4 1/2-year suspended prison term. Other defendants also received suspended prison terms. All have maintained their innocence.
In January 2022, a court lifted the ban on leaving Russia, after which Calvey and Delpal immediately returned to their homelands.
Calvey, the founder of the Russian-focused private equity group Baring Vostok, and his associates were charged in 2019 with defrauding Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($32.7 million).
Baring Vostok was once a major shareholder in Vostochny Bank. The defendants claimed the case was aimed at pressuring Baring Vostok as part of a business dispute over control of Vostochny Bank.
The case has rattled the investment community and prompted several prominent officials and businesspeople to voice concerns about the treatment of the executives.
Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private-equity firms operating in Russia. It was founded in the early 1990s and manages more than $3.7 billion in assets.
The company was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia's dominant search engine.