Kandal Provincial Court yesterday charged three men with embezzling money from an 18-year-old girl who wanted to free her mother from jail, officials said.

Provincial police chief Iv Chamroeun said the three men – 33-year-old Kin Sin, 43-year-old Sin Try, and 48-year-old Chea Sim – were charged with cheating the girl out of US$9,000 and remanded in custody at the provincial prison.

Sin Sengly, chief of the provincial criminal police department, said the three men had told 18-year-old Ly Sochea that they could influence the courts to free her mother – who was imprisoned early last year after she was accused of running a brothel – in exchange for $9,000.

He said the three men were arrested in Lvea Em district on Tuesday when they went to collect a final sum from Ly Sochea, who had been paying in installments. Ly Sochea filed a complaint against the men after her mother was found guilty and sentenced to five years.