Prosecution initiated against individual selling counterfeit Ngoc Linh ginseng seedlings.

After more than two months of investigation, the Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department (Kon Tum Provincial Police) coordinated with the Kon Tum City Police and Market Management Team No. 2 (Kon Tum Provincial Market Management Department) to discover that LVC (28 years old) from Vinh Phuc province showed signs of defrauding people by selling fake Ngoc Linh ginseng seedlings.

Specifically, LVC uses a Facebook Fanpage named "Kon Tum Province Plant Seed Center" with over 1,200 likes and 1,300 followers to regularly post images and videos advertising the sale of Ngoc Linh ginseng seedlings and roots originating from Tu Mo Rong district (Kon Tum). The selling price ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 VND per 2-year-old seedling (much lower than genuine Ngoc Linh ginseng in the province). In addition, LVC regularly sells large quantities of ginseng of unknown origin, falsely presenting it as Ngoc Linh ginseng from Kon Tum.

Authorities discovered that on May 14, 2024, LVC transported 150 ginseng seedlings of unknown origin, but labeled as Ngoc Linh Kon Tum ginseng, to Kon Tum province for a local resident to replant. Authorities in Kon Tum province sealed and inspected the shipment and worked with the victim. Upon inspection, authorities determined that the 150 seedlings were not Ngoc Linh Kon Tum ginseng.

When summoned for questioning, LVC admitted to all the violations. Specifically, from 2023 to the present, LVC repeatedly contacted Nguyen Thi Anh Hong (46 years old, residing in Lao Cai) to import ginseng seedlings that resembled Ngoc Linh Kon Tum ginseng, but originated from China. Subsequently, to gain the trust of customers, the suspect created a Facebook Fanpage named "Kon Tum Province Plant Seed Center" with an address in Ngoc Lay commune, Tu Mo Rong district, and advertised the sale of ginseng seedlings of unknown origin to gain illicit profits.

The Kon Tum Provincial Police have initiated a criminal case and indicted LVC for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 174 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017. The indictment decision has been approved by the People's Procuracy of the same level.