Cambodian police arrest ex-Russian billionaire Polonsky

Cambodian authorities arrested Russian former billionaire Sergei Polonsky, 40, on Monday afternoon at a Russia's request and would extradite him to Russia as soon as possible, a police spokesman said. "Our police just arrested him this moment in Preah Sihanouk province," National Police spokesman Lieutenant General Kirth Chantharith told Xinhua over telephone. "We will extradite him to Russia as soon as possible after the preparation of legal paperwork is completed." Russian Prosecutor General's Office on Thursday last week released a statement, confirming that an official extradition request concerning fugitive real estate tycoon Sergei Polonsky has been forwarded to the Cambodian authorities. Polonsky was charged in absentia last July as part of a criminal case involving the embezzlement of over 175 million U.S. dollars from the participants in an up-market cooperative residential construction project in central Moscow. In 2008, Polonsky was ranked Russia's 40th richest man with a fortune of 4.35 billion U.S. dollars by Forbes magazine. Polonsky headed Mirax Group, a large property development company that went bankrupt during the global economic crisis. On New Year's Eve in 2012, Polonsky, along with two friends, locked up the crew of a yacht in the hold and then forced the sailors to jump overboard into Cambodia's sea. He was detained for more than three months for the accusations of violence against Cambodian sailors, but was released on bail in April.