Cambodia Deports Fugitive Russian Tycoon

Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky

Cambodia has deported a fugitive Russian tycoon living illegally in the country.

Sergei Polonsky, accused of embezzling $175 million in Russia, was put on a flight to Moscow early on May 17.

Polonsky was arrested on May 15 in the Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, where authorities said he had been living for two years with an expired visa.

The real estate tycoon was charged in Russia in June 2013 with embezzling more than 5.7 billion rubles ($175 million) from 80 property investors.

Cambodian police arrested him in 2013 after he was added to Interpol's "red list" of top fugitives, but he was not sent back to Russia because the two countries had no extradition treaty.

Polonsky has maintained his innocence and said the embezzlement charges against him were an attempt to gain control of his holdings.

Based on reporting by AP and Cambodia Daily