A Moscow city court on Aug. 15 released Baring Vostok partner Philippe Delpal from jail into house arrest on fraud charges, the Financial Times reported.

The release comes ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in southern France in the week of Aug. 19.

Macron and French oil and gas producer Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanné lobbied for Delpal's release, along with members of Franco-Russian business and diplomatic circles who cautioned Putin that the detention could harm the business climate, the report noted.

Delpal, Baring Vostok founder Michael Calvey and two others were accused by prosecutors of defrauding Public Stock Co. Orient Express Bank, or Vostochny Bank, of billions of Russian rubles in a related-party transaction, but they have denied the charges.

Calvey was released to house arrest in April, while two other Baring Vostok executives and the former head of a debt collector owned by the fund are still in detention.