Cambodia deports fugitive Russian tycoon Polonsky

Cambodia deported Russian ex- billionaire Sergei Polonsky on Sunday for his violation of the country's immigration law, Ouk Hai Seila, head of the General Department of Immigration's investigation bureau, said.

"He was expelled from Cambodia at 7:20 a.m. local time (0020 GMT) through Phnom Penh International Airport by taking a Cambodia Angkor Air flight to Vietnam, where he will be transferred to another plane destined for Russia," he told Xinhua.

Polonsky, who is wanted in his homeland for embezzlement, was arrested by the Cambodian authorities on Friday on an island off the southwestern city of Preah Sihanouk province.

Sok Phal, chief of the General Department of Immigration, said that under the immigration law, the country has rights to deport a foreigner based on any of three mistakes: overstaying his/her visa, working without work permit, and causing danger to social security and order.

"We do not see his passport and work permit. Moreover, he has caused troubles to public security and order," he said. "Just one mistake is enough to deport him, but Polonsky has met all the criteria for the three mistakes."

Polonsky, 42, was charged in absentia in July 2012 as part of a criminal case involving the embezzlement of over 175 million U.S. dollars from the participants in an up-market cooperative residential construction project in central Moscow.

The ex-billionaire, who was ranked Russia's 40th richest man by Forbes magazine in 2008, had lived on his own private island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk for years before being deported.

In Cambodia, Polonsky still faces a separate case over allegations that he, along with two Russian friends, locked up the crew of a yacht in the hold and then forced the sailors to jump overboard into Cambodia's sea on New Year's Eve in 2012.

He was detained for more than three months for the alleged violence against Cambodian sailors, but was released on bail in April 2013. Endi