Sihanoukville police on Monday arrested a Russian national who is wanted back home for allegedly stealing 60 million rubles (about $873,000) from a municipal fund in 2008, following a request by the Russian government.

The Cambodian arrest warrant for Vladimir Vitalievich Batalin, 38, was issued by the Appeal Court in July 2014, according to the court’s head prosecutor, Ouk Savuth.

Cambodian officials were unable to say yesterday when Batalin entered the Kingdom, but they believe he arrived in Sihanoukville on March 25.

According to a 2008 statement by the Interior Department of Russia’s Amur oblast (Amur district), Batalin had a leadership role in a body that funded municipal education and is accused of embezzlement.

Police arrested Batalin on Monday while he was driving in Sihanoukville, said provincial deputy police chief Im Voleak. The arrest was ordered by the Department of Antiterrorism and Border Crime.

According to a letter from the Russian Embassy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two governments had been in contact about Batalin since 2011. Embassy officials were unavailable yesterday.

Additional reporting by Igor Kossov