Wellington - New Zealand opera diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, 65, suffered the theft of more than 650,000 US dollars by a bank manager who handled her retirement account in California, news reports said Friday. The manager, Sokvoeun "Cindy" Sou, 27, admitted embezzlement and five fraud charges when she appeared in court Thursday, police detective Greg Ella, of Alameda, in San Francisco Bay, told Radio New Zealand.

He said that Sou was remanded in custody until a bail hearing before being sentenced.

Ella said that Sou was arrested Tuesday at the Bank of Alameda, where she worked as a manager and confessed to making five withdrawals from Dame Kiri's account between May 2008 and this month, saying that she had financial difficulties.

He said the bank had reimbursed Dame Kiri, who lives most of the time in England and still sings at occasional concerts, though she officially retired from her opera career four years ago. (dpa)