A mother and her daughter were detained in Vietnam last month and authorities there seized nearly $82,000 in profits from the sale of their livestock, according to the woman’s husband and a local businessman.

Local tycoon Lim Hong Chheang, who lives in Tbong Khmum province’s Ponhea Krek district and has long advocated for banks on the border, said yesterday that Loeb Khor, 58, and her daughter El Rohany, 21, were arrested in Tay Ninh province and charged with illegal currency trafficking after crossing over to sell cows and buffaloes.

Husband Sim El, 61 said he and his family crossed over to collect money from a prear-ranged sale. His wife and daughter went home ahead of him to give the money to the other owners of the livestock. On July 7, they were arrested, he said.

“If it was money from drugs or fake money, I wouldn’t be angry, but this is money from selling cows,” he said.

The spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy could not be reached.