Ostap Doroshenko, the son of jailed Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko, has spoken out on his father’s recent detainment, blaming it on a plot orchestrated by a predictable family foe.
“The fugitive criminal Sergey Polonsky decided to take from his ex-business partner Nikolai Doroshenko not only the island, but also freedom,” the younger Doroshenko – who is a captain in the provincial immigration police – wrote in a statement.
On March 25th, Nikolai was arrested on charges of fraud after failing to appear in court over a legal dispute concerning a private island off the coast of Sihanoukville of which both parties contest the ownership.
Ostap stated, amidst a raft of unverifiable allegations, that Polonsky paid “fabulous sums” to have his father jailed, speculating pay-offs were made to a former family lawyer to ensure Nikolai did not receive the notices for his appearance in court.
“The notices of appointment were not transferred direct to Nikolai, his signatures on them are missing,” Ostap wrote.
The statement goes on to say the case against Nikolai was brought to court on fraudulent grounds, thanks to faked signatures, a $250,000 bribe, and other alleged manipulations.
“[Nikolai] firmly believed in his innocence before the law and was not afraid of what happened to him,” the statement reads.
“Polonsky, by contrast, operates by deception and bribery [according to all those criminal cases in Russia] and has in this situation a definite advantage.”
Ostap’s claims, for which he cited “high [placed] people”, were strongly denied by Polonsky’s Cambodian lawyer, Benson Samay.
“According to the law, you cannot take the money and put [someone] in jail,” he said.
“He always blames Polonsky,” Samay added, referring to the Doroshenkos’ unproven claim that Polonsky was behind a series of assassination attempts against them, in early March and in November last year.
Polonsky, who is wanted on charges of embezzlement in Russia, could not be reached for comment.
As of yesterday, Polonsky’s Azimut yacht was stuck on the island of Koh Tang, although in a series of Facebook posts the former tycoon seemed unconcerned about goings-on back on the mainland.
“Above us are starry skies. Feels like we’re stuck in a different galaxy,” he posted on Saturday.
