Director of counterfeit nutritional product manufacturing sentenced to 26 years in prison.

After several days of preliminary trial and lengthy deliberation, on the afternoon of July 20th, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced defendant Pham Vu Khiem to 11 years in prison for "Producing and trading counterfeit food, food additives," 9 years in prison for "Violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences," and 6 years in prison for "Money laundering." Combining the sentences for all three offenses, Khiem must serve a total of 26 years in prison.

Khiem's ​​wife, defendant Tran Thi Hue (manager and operator of Herbitech Company), was sentenced to 7 years in prison for "Producing and trading counterfeit food, food additives, and food supplements" and 5 years and 6 months in prison for "Violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences". Combining the sentences for both crimes, defendant Hue must serve a total of 12 years and 6 months in prison.

The remaining 17 defendants, all employees of Herbitech Company, were accused of committing one of the three aforementioned offenses and were sentenced to penalties commensurate with their crimes.

In addition to prison sentences, the defendants Khiem and Hue were also ordered by the court to return all the illegal profits obtained from selling counterfeit goods and making false accounting entries.

The trial panel recommended that the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies, within their respective functions and duties, should recall counterfeit products manufactured by Herbitech Company that are still circulating in the market, in order to protect consumer health.

The judging panel also recommended that regulatory agencies should promptly compare functional food products with their declared documentation. This aims to detect early discrepancies in ingredients and content compared to the registration, thereby preventing and promptly addressing the production of counterfeit goods and preventing businesses from arbitrarily changing product formulas.

The trial panel noted that the authorities need to examine the discrepancies between the actual quantities of goods purchased and sold compared to the records of individuals and other customers related to Herbitech Company, as these discrepancies may be related to other violations of the law that need to be clarified.

For customers who purchased counterfeit goods from Herbitech Company, the court announced that they can exercise their right to claim compensation from the defendants through other civil lawsuits if they so wish.

According to the initial verdict, even though the health food products had been registered and their quality declared, Khiem still directed the reduction of ingredients, decreased content, or replacement of raw materials with cheaper additives to increase profits and competitiveness.

To evade inspection, Khiem and his accomplices created fake documents, including test certificates and warehouse entry/exit slips, to legitimize the shipments. Herbitech Company produced 67 product lines that were identified as counterfeit, totaling over 13 million units (packages, boxes, bottles, etc.).

During its six years of operation, Herbitech Company achieved revenue of 335 billion VND but only declared 145 billion VND in taxes, concealing 190 billion VND and causing a loss of 55.8 billion VND to the State budget.

In addition, Khiem is accused of using 12.3 billion VND from illegal sources to acquire land use rights and invest in real estate for money laundering purposes.

Sentences for the 19 defendants:

Crimes of "Producing and trading counterfeit food, food additives," "Violating regulations on payment causing serious consequences," and "Money laundering":

Pham Vu Khiem, Director of Herbitech Co., Ltd., sentenced to 26 years in prison.

The crimes of "Producing and trading counterfeit food, food additives" and "Violating regulations on taxation causing serious consequences":

Tran Thi Hue (Manager and operator of Herbitech Company, Khiem's ​​wife) was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison.

The crime of "Producing and trading counterfeit food, food additives, and food supplements":

Phung Thi Thu (Head of Research Department at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Nguyen Thi Thanh (Head of Quality Control Department at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Sai Thi Thu (Head of the materials accounting department, production manager of Herbitech Company) sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Nguyen Hoai Phuong (Quality Control Department employee at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Nguyen Thi Hen (Quality control employee at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The crime of "Violating regulations on mathematics resulting in serious consequences":

Pham Thi Hien (17.7% shareholder, purchasing employee of Herbitech Company) sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Le Thi Hong Van (Chief Accountant of Herbitech Company) sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Vuong Thi Hoa (Chief Accountant of Herbitech Company) sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Bui Thi Thu Ha (Head of Accounting Department at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Doan Thi Thu Ha (Sales, accounts receivable, and warehouse employee at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison.

Dao Thi Nhi (Tax Accountant at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Phan Thị Thúy An (Sales employee of Herbitech Company) sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Tran Thi Luan (Tax Accountant at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Duong Quang Khai (General Accountant of Herbitech Company) sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Le Thi Ha (Accounting employee at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Hoang Thi Thu Ha (Accounting employee at Herbitech Company) sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Dao Thi Huong Hoa (Accounting department employee at Herbitech Company) received an 18-month suspended sentence.