MOSCOW, November 7 (RAPSI) – Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on Thursday released a statement in which confirmed that an official extradition request concerning fugitive real estate tycoon Sergei Polonsky has been forwarded to the Cambodian authorities.

Polonsky was charged in absentia last July as part of a criminal case involving the embezzlement of over 5.7 billion rubles (over $176 million) from the participants in an up-market cooperative residential construction project in central Moscow.

A photo and other data on Polonsky has shown up on the Interpol database, after the businessman was put on an international wanted list in October.

Polonsky believes that Interpol's actions are aimed not to allow him to arrive in Russia and sign a plea bargain.  He also asked Interpol to inform him about the period for appeal of this decision.

Russia isn't the only place where Polonsky has recently found himself in a bit of hot water. Polonsky was arrested with two Russian friends in Cambodia in December 2012 for allegedly attacking the six-person crew of a boat. The businessman was released in April, but ordered not to leave the country. In June a British tabloid newspaper reported that he was at a luxury apartment in Israel.

In summer, Polonsky tried to apply for Israeli citizenship during his brief stay there after being released from Cabodian prison. In August he left Israel "out of fears for his safety" and returned to his private island in Cambodia.