A Moscow court has toughened an embezzlement conviction against French banker Philippe Delpal, changing his preliminary suspended sentence to prison time, Russian state media reported Wednesday.Delpal, a previous senior executive at the Baring Vostok investment group, was sentenced in 2021 to four and a half years of probation for allegedly embezzling funds from Vostochny Bank, which was partially owned at the time by a businessman connected to President Vladimir Putin.He was sentenced alongside his organization partner, U.S.
financier Michael Calvey, both of whom have denied the charges.
The case sent shockwaves through Russias service community and sped up the outflow of foreign capital from the country.While the most recent judgment is unlikely to have practical repercussions, it comes as relations in between Moscow and Paris hit new lows, with the Kremlin increasingly shifting blame for the three-year Ukraine war from the United States to Europe.Both Calvey and Delpal left Russia after the travel constraints connected to their suspended sentences were lifted.On Wednesday, Moscows Tverskoy Court transformed Delpals probationary sentence to jail time at the request of Russias federal prison service, the state-run TASS news company reported.Delpal had actually already invested six months in jail before being positioned under home arrest.
In addition to him and Calvey, five Russian associates who have actually preserved their innocence got suspended sentences of in between three and 5 years.A Moscow court later decreased Delpals sentence from 4 and a half years to 3 and a half years.