MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has sent an extradition request to Cambodia for fugitive businessman Sergei Polonsky, the Prosecutor General’s Office said Thursday.
The request was sent in October, prosecutors said in a statement.
Polonsky has been charged in absentia with involvement in an alleged 5.7 billion ruble ($175 million) embezzlement scheme that targeted investors in an upscale residential project in Moscow. An international warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Once one of Russia’s richest men, Polonsky currently lives on his own island in Cambodia, which granted him citizenship in September after judges there cleared him of liability in an alleged attack on several locals.
His lawyer said Wednesday that Polonsky had sent a statement to Russian prosecutors and investigators naming the individuals he believes committed the embezzlement.
Russia’s Interior Ministry has said that more than 80 participants in the Kutuzovskaya Milya development project lost money directly because of Polonsky’s actions.
