Phnom Penh municipal police on Sunday detained a woman accused of taking sole possession of land she purchased with a partner in 2018.

Municipal police chief Sar Thet on Sunday named the 45-year-old woman as Kheng Oun. She was detained by municipal minor crime police near Bale Bridge in the capital’s Chroy Chongva district.

Oun’s detention was ordered by the municipal court, he told The Post.

“We detained the suspect following the court’s order. It is a breach of trust case. I do not know the exact amount of money involved because it was not stated in the arrest warrant. I had her detained and sent to the court immediately,” Thet said.

According to arrest warrant No 596 released on July 31, last year, the investigating municipal court Judge Ouk Reth Kunthea said the court charged Oun for breach of trust in October 2018 under articles 391 and 392 of the Criminal Code.

Article 391 criminalises actions taken to misappropriate funds entrusted to an individual while Article 392 stipulates that offenders face one to three years in prison and fines of between two million ($487) and six million riel.

Municipal Court spokesman Y Rin confirmed that an arrest warrant had been issued but declined to elaborate.

“It is under the procedure of the investigating judge and is confidential,” he said.

According to a news release, in October 2018, Oun partnered with Hun Bunsith to buy two plots covering 11ha in Tbong Khmum district’s Srolob commune in Tbong Khmum province.

The following year, Oun secretly procured the land title without adding Bunsith’s name.

She filed a complaint to the Tbuong Khmum Provincial Court requesting that it protect the land. But instead, the court found that she had stolen it.

Bunsith countered by filing a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which issued a warrant for Oun’s arrest. Bunsith could not be reached for comment on Sunday.