Realty developer Polonsky accused of fraud, says is innocent
MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Russian property developer Sergei Polonsky, who is in Cambodia and is wanted by Russia on suspicion of large-scale fraud, has protested his innocence but said he is willing to stay under prosecution if all other suspects in his case are cleared.
"I insist on quashing this case because no legal offense has been committed. But if this is impossible for any reason, I ask for me to be considered guilty of what has happened and for that reason quash the proceedings against employees of my company, my friends, relatives, partners," Polonsky said in an oral statement.
The statement, which Polonsky made in a migration jail in Phnom Penh where he awaits a verdict on a Russian request for his extradition, was shown by Russia's Rossiya 1 television on Wednesday evening.
The Russian Interior Ministry's investigative department presented an indictment against Polonsky in absentia on June 14 in a case dealing with fraud during the construction of a residential complex in Moscow. Polonsky is suspected of embezzling over 5.7 billion rubles from investors of the Kutuzov Mile residential complex, and over 80 individuals have been recognized as victims of the fraud scheme.
Moscow's Tverskoi Court later sanctioned Polonsky's arrest in absentia, and he was subsequently declared internationally wanted.
