The general director of a Vietnamese construction company was arrested and sent to court Saturday after allegedly stealing $500,000 from another construction company, a senior police official who asked not to be named said yesterday.

According to the official, Vietnamese national Tran Tuan Huy, director general of the K-Thien Tran Company, withdrew the money from a joint bank account his company opened with the King Trade International Company while the companies were partnering to build a fertiliser factory in Kandal. Tran, who could not be contacted, allegedly spent all the money.