MOSCOW, December 16 (RAPSI) – Cambodian prosecutors have received a new request from Russia to extradite Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky, TASS reported on Tuesday. The news agency’s source at the Cambodian Prosecutor General’s Office said the request was based on civil claims filed against Polonsky.

He said that those who lost their money as a result of Polonsky’s alleged construction fraud have filed for compensation. He also said he didn’t know when the Cambodian authorities would make a decision on the new extradition request.

Polonsky is the founder of a multipurpose corporation, Mirax Group, which has carried out large development projects, including Federation Tower in the Moscow International Business Center, office buildings Mirax Plaza, Poklonnaya 11 and Admiral, condominium developments Fort Kutuzov, Kutuzovskaya Riviera, Rublyovskaya Riviera, Mirax Park, Golden Keys 1 and 2, and the Well House.

In June 2013, Russia’s Interior Ministry released a statement saying that Sergei Polonsky was charged in absentia and placed on the international wanted list for the alleged embezzlement of billions of rubles from investors in the Kutuzovskaya Milya and Rublyovskaya Riviera projects. In November 2013, he was arrested in Cambodia at Russia’s request, only to be released in January 2014.

On January 13, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow seized the stock of foreign companies owned by Polonsky, who has assessed them at $100 million. The ruling came as an injunction in the embezzlement case in which Polonsky was arrested in absentia last year.

The pretrial investigation of this case will last until mid-February 2015.

Regarding Russia’s previous extradition request, a Cambodian court ruled in late April that Polonsky could not be extradited because a criminal case had been opened against him in Cambodia.

Cambodian police arrested Polonsky, Konstantin Baglay and Alexander Karachinsky on December 31, 2012 for the alleged beating and holding of the crew of a ship that was taking them to Sihanoukville from some nearby islands. Prosecutors maintain that, while in a state of intoxication, the men threatened the crew with knives, locked them in a hold, and then forced them to jump overboard.

Later, the mogul and his friends were released.

Under Cambodian law, this criminal case can only be terminated by court decision.

In 2008, Forbes ranked Polonsky Russia's 40th richest man with a $4.35 billion fortune. His Mirax Group, a property development company, went bankrupt during the global economic crisis.