Police in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam, have detained and prosecuted a 43-year-old woman for allegedly stealing assets totaling over US$19,600 from her Australian boyfriend late last month.

Ha Thi Anh Nguyet, hailing from northern Quang Ninh Province, has been indicted on charges of theft, police in the city’s Binh Chanh District said on Tuesday.

The victim is N., a 63-year-old Australian tourist, who reported the theft to local police on December 27, claiming he had lost a mobile phone, gold jewelry, cash and other belongings worth more than VND500 million ($19,625) in total.

The foreign man said that he suspected Nguyet, his Vietnamese romantic partner, as the possible thief who committed the crime at his temporary residence in Binh Chanh. 

After examining the scene and collecting information from witnesses and other sources, the district police launched an investigation into the case and hunted for Nguyet.

Detectives tracked down the woman and detained her on Tuesday while she was preparing to flee to the central region.

Nguyet confessed that she had taken advantage of N.'s trust to steal his assets, then sold all the stolen objects for cash and deposited in her bank account.

The district police have recovered some of the stolen assets and returned them to N..

According to local media, the Australian man expressed his sincere thanks to the police for their professional support.

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