Photo Credit: http://weblinks.ru

Millionaire Sergey Polonsky is having a hard time in a Cambodia jail, a striking difference to what the former owner of Mirax has been used to. Due to the distance between Russia and Cambodia and his flamboyant character, his story is becoming more and more complex.

Help me!

In a fresh twist, Polonsky has urged Russian Foreign Minister to look into his arrest in Cambodia due to the threats allegedly made by the Russian diplomat.

In a hand-written letter, the businessman explains that the consul who visited him in prison, along with several other people, told him that his arrest had been ordered and they will be handed down a three-year sentence.

The three Russians who have spent almost a month in a Cambodian prison have not received any aid from the embassy and will not, Polonsky also said.

Who is he?

Sergey Polonsky is a notorious oligarch, known in Russia as the founder of the development company Mirax Group, rebranded into Potok.

Polonsky is also the man punched in the face during a live broadcast by billionaire Alexander Lebedev, owner of the National Reserve Bank and several newspapers, including Britain's The Independent and Evening Standard.

Why is he there?

According to the local police, the Russians threatened 6 sailors with a knife and locked up in a cabin and a lavatory and then forced several of them to jump off the ship. 

The Russians who are facing up to three years in jail have denied the charges.

In a statement that was released shortly after the incident, they said were celebrating the New Year with fireworks on an uninhabited island.

But then a patrol boat from a nearby military base arrived to check their papers, which they didn’t have, and took them away to a police station.

According to the representative of the Potok company, it was a misunderstanding as the locals could speak only their native tongue and didn’t know a word in English or in Russian.

Recent developments

The other day Sergey Polonsky published a different story, saying he was conned by his own sailors.

Earlier, he also wrote a letter to the Cambodian king, promising hefty investments into the national economy and describing the incident as a misunderstanding.

The sailors then withdrew their lawsuits but he and two of his companions, which he now says are strangers to him, are still staying in prison – at least until the investigation is over.