Eccentric Russian businessman arrested in Cambodia
The Cambodian police arrested Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky and two other Russian citizens. Diplomats try to find out the circumstances of the incident.
Officials with the Russian Embassy in Phnom Penh said that the Head of the Consular Section was in Sihanoukville.
"For the time being we have no precise information, but we can confirm the arrest of the Russian citizens. We are investigating the situation," officials said.
The incident took place on Monday, December 31st. Together with Polonsky, the police of Cambodia arrested two other men named only as Karachinsky and Baghlan. According to Cambodian media, they were charged with assaulting six local seamen who were transported them from an island to the shore after a boat trip. According to investigators, the Russians allegedly began to threaten the crew with a knife.
The victims claimed that "the Russians locked them in a cabin, and then forced them to jump into the sea." The prosecutor noted that the Russian citizens had been charged with "premeditated violence and illegal deprivation of freedom."
Sergei Polonsky was the owner and CEO of one of the largest real estate companies Mirax Group in 2004-2011. The man claims that he is "no longer a businessman." He currently works as the first vice-president of the Association of Russian Builders.
In October 2011, Forbes magazine named Sergei Polonsky one of the nine most unusual and eccentric Russian businessmen. In the autumn of 2011, he had a fight with businessman Alexander Lebedev while filming a TV program.
