Sergei Polonsky ‘to be deported’

[geovalin]

Charles Rollet, Chhay Channyda and Cheang Sokha

Fugitive Russian tycoon Sergei Polonsky could soon be back in Russia, after he was arrested in southern Cambodia yesterday for possessing an expired visa.

According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong, Polonsky was captured alongside five other foreign nationals and taken to Sihanoukville for processing by immigration officials.

“This arrest purely relates to implementing the law on immigration. As I know, those six people have lived with their expired visas. It’s just the same as if Vietnamese people live here illegally. We will deport them back to their home country,” he said on Friday.

While pointing specifically to the overstayed visas, the move follows a Ministry of Foreign Affairs request late last month asking the Ministry of Justice to examine Polonsky’s case in light of a fresh extradition request by the Russian Embassy. Kuong also denied an upcoming official visit by Prime Minister Hun Sen to Russia had influenced Polonsky’s capture.

There are conflicting accounts as to whether the arrest was made on Polonsky’s private yacht or on Koh Damlong – one of eight private islands off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province that Polonsky claims at least partial ownership of.

Pierre Kann, a Cambodian scuba diver and conservationist who oversaw part of Koh Damlong’s development, said a staffer on the island told him Polonsky was arrested on his yacht moored off the island. Polonsky’s Russian lawyer Slavik Brsoyan confirmed the same to Russian media.

Also among the six arrested was Kaspars Cekotins, one of Polonsky’s lawyers in Cambodia, according to his brother Edgars Cekotins, who was not present during the arrest.

“There just arrived like about three boats with policemen. It happened really fast. Some of the guys ran away, some of them [the police] took,” he said on Friday. “They took all the phones, all the Macs, PCs, everything”.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Polonsky’s former lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky claimed the arrest was made at the request of the Russian government.

“The Investigation Department of the Interior Ministry, as far as I am aware, has just been informed by the Cambodian authorities that Mr Polonsky was arrested at the request of the Russian Federation,” he wrote.

In recent years, Russia has pressured the Cambodian government to arrest Polonsky and extradite him to face embezzlement charges related to a failed $167 million development project in Moscow. In November 2013, Polonsky was added to Interpol’s most wanted list for “large-scale fraud”.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Russian Interior Ministry said it was committed to bringing Polonsky to justice in Russia for alleged fraud, saying it was “using all possible forms of contacts with foreign colleagues”.

In April 2014, Cambodia’s Supreme Court dismissed a request to extradite Polonsky due to the lack of an extradition treaty between the countries, but negotiations have since been ongoing between the two nations, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying an agreement was “in a high degree of readiness” in early March.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national

[peterjackson]

You can bet Hun Sen and his 'boys' negotiated a substantial Russian 'foreign aid' package, before the 'raid' and arrest took place. No doubt Hun Sen will be collecting such 'foreign aid' during his upcoming visit to Moscow.

[geovalin]

Jig is up for Polonsky

Mon, 18 May 2015

Cheang Sokha and Taing Vida

Fugitive tycoon Sergei Polonsky was deported back to Russia yesterday morning, where he is wanted for allegedly scamming investors in his real estate projects, police have said.

Uk Heisela, director of the General Department of Immigration’s investigations department, said Polonsky left for Ho Chi Minh City at about 7:20am. From there, he was to be flown straight to Moscow.

“We sent him alone,” Heisela said. “Other Russians are having their [immigration] documents verified and are still being held at the Immigration Department, but they will also be deported later.”

According to Heisela, Polonsky would not be allowed to return to Cambodia.

He was arrested by military police along with five others on the Preah Sihanouk island of Koh Damlong on Friday afternoon over claims he was living on an expired visa for more than two years, a charge his lawyers have denied.

He was escorted by military helicopter to Phnom Penh immediately after his arrest.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the arrest of Polonsky was made after he breached the Immigration Law by overstaying his visa.

“We deport all foreigners who live illegally in Cambodia, not just Polonsky,” he said. “When their visa is expired it means they are illegal immigrants [who have to be deported].”

He did not comment on the timing of Polonsky’s arrest, which came just days after Russia lobbied the Foreign Ministry to expedite the former-billionaire’s departure. On Saturday afternoon, security forces searched the tycoon’s private resort island, Koh Dek Koul and detained more than 20 of his staff.

Sergei Polonsky boards a plane at the Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday after he was arrested over the weekend. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Fifteen foreigners and six Cambodians working for Polonsky were transported back to the mainland on Saturday at about 8pm, according to provincial police chief Choun Narin.

“We were not arresting them, but we tried to help them by bringing them back from the island since there was no longer any way for them to live on the island,” he said.

“There is a child among the 15 foreigners, and one of them [a Russian national] has a forged passport, so we are keeping him in detention. The rest have now left with their friends and families,” he said.

“We found they had tourist visas … except the one who had a fake passport.”

In July 2013, Russia charged Polonsky with embezzlement after it was alleged that he had cheated 80 investors in large Moscow developments out of about $173 million.

Cambodian courts have on more than one occasion turned down extradition requests from Russia, but in March it was revealed that Russia and Cambodia were working on an extradition treaty, which is expected to be finalised soon.

The deportation came as a court case against him and the complaints he filed against his Russian business partner, Nikolai Doroshenko, have yet to be concluded. Doroshenko was arrested on March 25 and is currently in jail awaiting trial.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/jig-polonsky

[webfact]

Cambodia deports Polonsky to Russia



PHNOM PENH: -- Fugitive Russian tycoon Sergei Polonsky was deported on Sunday morning back to his home country where he is wanted on charges of large-scale fraud, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

Polonsky was arrested by military police along with five others on the Preah Sihanouk island of Koh Damlong on Friday afternoon on claims he was living on an expired visa.

He was escorted by military helicopter to Phnom Penh immediately after his arrest.

On Saturday afternoon, security forces searched the tycoon’s private resort island of Koh Dek Koul and detained more than 20 of his staff.

Fifteen foreigners and six Cambodians who work for Polonsky were transported back to the mainland on Saturday at about 8pm, according to provincial police chief Choun Narin.

Uk Heisela, director of the General Department of Immigration’s investigations department, said Polonsky arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam at about 7:20am on Sunday. From there, he was to be flown straight to Moscow.

In July 2013, Russia charged Polonsky with embezzlement after it was alleged that he had cheated investors in two large Moscow residential developments out of millions of dollars.

Cambodian courts have on more than one occasion turned down extradition requests from Russia, but in March it was revealed that Russia and Cambodia were working on an extradition treaty, which is expected to be finalised soon.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/cambodia-deports-polonsky-to-russia


-- Thai PBS 2015-05-18

[Barin]

He is known to have bought an island in Cambodia.

And someone said he bought the Cambodian citizenship too.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[ToddinChonburi]

Now we know why Puttin Score 8 goals in his pickup hockey game he is getting his friend back.

[tajtom]

Dear Mr Management

The Russian Army is killing innocent citizens in Ukraine and extorting business people.. Who cares

[chilli42]

You don't get wealthy in Russia by bring a saint. Clearly this guy rubbed Putin or a friend of Putin's the wrong way. This guy is so screwed.

[geovalin]

Polonsky ‘in custody’ in Russia

Tue, 19 May 2015

Daniel Pye

Former fugitive tycoon Sergei Polonsky was detained by Russian security forces in Moscow on Sunday evening after being deported from Cambodia, Russian media reported yesterday.

He is reportedly being held at the notorious Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre, a Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman told the country’s TASS news agency.

“Investigative actions will begin on Monday [yesterday] morning,” she said.

Polonsky is wanted in Russia for allegedly embezzling more than $170 million from real estate investors and was placed on Interpol’s watchlist in 2013.

His wife, Olga Deripaska, told TASS that the Cambodian government’s claims that he was living on an expired visa were untrue.

“We extended our visas in November. Both [of us] have valid one-year visas and all allegations that he has violated the [immigration] regime are not true,” she said.

Russia has lobbied Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry in recent weeks to expedite the former billionaire’s extradition ahead of a possible state visit by Prime Minister Hun Sen to Russia in the coming months.

However, a lawyer for Polonsky said she did not “think it is a political decision”.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/polonsky-custody-russia