{"id":7781,"date":"2019-02-21T20:56:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T20:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/russia-charges-us-investor-with-fraud-in-high-profile-case\/"},"modified":"2019-02-21T20:56:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T20:56:30","slug":"russia-charges-us-investor-with-fraud-in-high-profile-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/russia-charges-us-investor-with-fraud-in-high-profile-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia charges US investor with fraud in high-profile case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n Michael Calvey denies all the allegations against him
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Russian investigators have charged US investor Michael Calvey with large-scale fraud, in a case that has further strained ties between the two nations.<\/p>\n

Mr Calvey, the founder of the Baring Vostok investment fund, is suspected of embezzling 2.5bn roubles ($38m; \u00a329m) from a Russian bank, Vostochny.<\/p>\n

Mr Calvey, who was held last week with five other suspects, denies this. <\/p>\n

The US embassy in Moscow said Russia was denying US diplomats access to Mr Calvey, seven days after his arrest.<\/p>\n

“Under the bilateral consular convention, Russia is obliged to provide consular access within four days,” the embassy said in a tweet (in Russian).<\/a><\/p>\n

“We insist on an immediate access,” it added.<\/p>\n

Mr Calvey says that charges against him are being used as an instrument in a dispute among shareholders of Vostochny.<\/p>\n

In an unusual move, Russia’s business ombudsman Boris Titov has questioned the legality of Mr Calvey’s arrest.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, several prominent Russian businessmen have warned that the high-profile case could raise concerns among foreign investors about the business climate in Russia.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that Mr Calvey’s case was “at the centre of rather lively political discussions”.<\/p>\n

Relations between the US and Russia have been strained over a number of issues, including a major arms control treaty and Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.<\/p>\n