A senior official with an ACLEDA Bank branch in Kampong Cham’s Srey Santhor district has been arrested after being accused of defrauding the company of nearly US$500,000, bank and police officials confirmed Monday.

We have learned that he had cheated the bank by transferring nearly $500,000....

Yan Seth, chief of the marketing section of ACLEDA in Srey Santhor district, was arrested after bank officials became suspicious of some “irregularities”, said the bank’s CEO and President In Channy.

“There were some irregularities in the audit system,” said In Channy, who alleged that Yan Seth conspired with his girlfriend, an employee at a competing bank, to steal the money.

“We have learned that he had cheated the bank by transferring nearly $500,000 to his girlfriend’s bank account. We want him to be prosecuted,” said In Channy, adding that he would not confirm when Yan Seth was arrested or elaborate further on the accusations, which have yet to be proved in court.

“It is an internal affair. Let the police complete their investigation, and then it will become public,” he said.

Calls to Ministry of Interior police officials, who are handling the case, were not returned Monday.

Sor Ros, head of the anti-drug trafficking bureau of the Kampong Cham provincial police, confirmed that the ACLEDA employee and his girlfriend had both been arrested, before referring questions to the ministry.

Meanwhile, another ACLEDA official in Kampong Cham province was breathing a sigh of relief Monday after a local newspaper erroneously reported that it was he who had been arrested.

“I was very surprised after reading the newspaper, which wrongly accused me of cheating a large amount of money,” said Heng Phalla, ACLEDA’s provincial director in Kampong Cham.