MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI) - Real estate tycoon Sergei Polonsky who was deported from Cambodia to Russia on Sunday faces charges of large scale fraud, Interior ministry spokeswoman, Yelena Alekseyeva, told journalists on Monday.
Alekseyeva said Polonsky would be questioned immediately after the charges were brought.
Polonsky, arrested in Cambodia, has been taken to a detention facility in Moscow.
The businessman’s lawyer, Slavik Brsoyan, said that he would insist on changing Polonsky’s pre-trial restrictions. However, his main goal now is to ensure Polonsky’s safety. During Polonsky’s detention in Cambodia, there were several attempts on his life. Brsoyan worries about the possibility of similar incidents in Russia.
Polonsky is the founder of Mirax Group, a diversified corporation that has been involved in several 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, 2014, 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.
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 recession.
Polonsky, 42, was charged in Russia in absentia in July 2012 as part of a criminal case involving the embezzlement of over $175 million from the investors in an up-market condominium project in central Moscow.
Polonsky has been listed in Interpol’s database at the request of Russia’s Interior Ministry.
