Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has fled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, sources in her Pheu Thai Party said Saturday, a day after she failed to show up for a court ruling.

According to the sources, Yingluck travelled to neighboring Cambodia and then flew to Singapore, from where she boarded a flight to the Middle East.

The date of her departure is unclear, but a close aide earlier said that she had left the country by Thursday. She apparently did not bring along her son or other family members.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Yingluck, 50, after she failed to appear in the morning for the verdict in her trial over a controversial rice subsidy scheme. She had faced up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Yingluck, 50, is the younger sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and fled abroad to avoid a corruption conviction. He still lives in exile, using Dubai as a base, leading to speculation that Yingluck has joined up with him there.

During the trial, she denied charges of criminal negligence in connection with her government's rice-pledging scheme, which resulted in losses of some 500 billion baht (about $15 billion) for the country.

The government confirmed last month that it had temporarily frozen her properties and bank accounts.

Yingluck was ousted from office by the Constitutional Court over an abuse-of-power case, just days ahead of the military coup led by Prayut, then head of the army, in May 2014 that overthrew the Pheu Thai-led government.