The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sunday continued to question three Vietnamese nationals arrested for kidnapping their countryman in the city last week, over a $13,000 gambling debt.

Court spokesperson Kuch Kimlong said police sent the three to court on Saturday, but charges have not yet been filed.

“The three Vietnamese nationals are in the prosecutor’s hands. They were not yet sent to an investigating judge,” he said.

The Ministry of Interior’s deputy crime department chief Cheav Vibol said the three suspects were arrested at the Heng Long Guesthouse in Prampi Makara district’s Boeung Prolit commune on Thursday, after having confined the victim.

Vibol said the suspects had enticed 57-year-old Pham Quang Dung to gamble at NagaWorld, which led to him borrowing and losing money he could not repay.

The suspects then held Dung and phoned his wife in Vietnam to demand the money. “They just threatened the victim but did not beat him. They just confined him,” he said.

Dung’s wife reported the matter to Vietnamese authorities, who then notified the Ministry of Interior.

Acting on this information, the Ministry of Interior’s Penal Police Department chief Lieutenant General Ngeng Chuo requested permission from National Police chief Neth Savoeun and Deputy National Police chief In Bora to raid the guesthouse.