A Moscow court on Wednesday ruled to transfer Russian executives caught up the controversial case of Baring Vostok equity firm from pre-trial detention in prison to house arrest, a spokesman said. The Moscow city court denied a request by the investigation to extend the pre-trial detention of Ivan Zyuzin, Maxim Vladimirov and Vagan Abgaryan, a spokesman for Baring Vostok told AFP. The three Russian men have been held in detention since February last year. Their foreign co-defendants -- the fund's American founder Michael Calvey and his French colleague Philippe Delpal -- were moved from pre-trial detention to house arrest last year. The case of Baring Vostok, one of Russia's oldest private equity groups, has sent shockwaves through the country's business community. But while Calvey and Delpal's ordeal has drawn international attention including that of French President Emmanuel Macron, the fate of Baring Vostok's Russian executives has mostly remained out of the spotlight. The men are alleged to have defrauded a Russian bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($38.7 million). They deny the charges, saying the case is part of a struggle for control of Bank Vostochny involving a little-known Russian businessman with links to the Kremlin and law enforcement agents. apo-as/am/rl