Thuy Tien and Quang Linh Vlogs receive prison sentences for defrauding customers.
Miss Thuy Tien, Quang Linh Vlogs, and Hang Du Muc were sentenced to two years in prison for falsely advertising the 'Kera candy' product, illegally profiting 12 billion VND from over 56,000 customers.
On the afternoon of November 19th, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court announced the verdicts for the defendants in the case of defrauding customers related to the "Kera candy" product. Accordingly, Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien (Miss Grand International 2021), Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (aka "Hang Du Muc"), and Pham Quang Linh (aka "Quang Linh Vlogs") each received a 2-year prison sentence.
For the same crime, defendant Le Tuan Linh (Director of Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company) was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison, and Le Thanh Cong (founding shareholder) received 3 years in prison. All defendants were also fined an additional 50 million VND each.
The truth about 'Kera candy'
The trial panel determined that the food supplement product SuperGreens Gummies (also known as "Kera candy") was registered by Chi Em Rot Company and manufactured under contract by Asia Company. The defendants falsely advertised the product's effects and ingredients.
Specifically, the defendants were well aware that the fiber content in each candy was very low, only 0.935%, insufficient to provide adequate fiber supplementation. Despite lacking scientific evidence, they advertised "one candy equals a plate of vegetables" and claimed the product contained 10 types of vegetable and fruit powders, accounting for 28.13% of the total.
The test results showed that the product contained Sorbitol at an average concentration of 33.8%. This is a laxative, but it was not listed on the product label or in the self-declaration. The court also determined that Asia Company did not have a raw material area that met VietGAP standards and the origin of the ingredients used in production was unclear.
The roles of the defendants and the scale of the profits.
According to the indictment, Le Tuan Linh, in his role as Director, directly signed outsourcing contracts and approved false advertising content. Le Thanh Cong was the one who conceived the product ideas and communicated false information to other individuals to develop the advertising scripts.
The defendants Nguyen Thi Thai Hang, Pham Quang Linh, and Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien exploited the images of celebrities and influential figures on social media to create videos and livestream advertisements, disseminating false information to deceive consumers.
During six live streams, the defendants sold 129,617 boxes of Kera candy to 56,385 customers, earning over 17 billion VND. After deducting expenses paid to the manufacturer, the illicit profit was determined to be 12 billion VND. The court rejected the request to deduct approximately 7 billion VND for advertising and warehousing expenses, and ordered the defendants to jointly repay the entire 12 billion VND.
Court's opinion
The court determined that the defendants' actions were serious, infringing upon economic management order and consumer rights, and eroding public trust. The defendants intentionally deceived more than 50,000 customers to gain illicit profits of an exceptionally large sum.
Regarding mitigating circumstances, the panel of judges noted that the defendants had good personal backgrounds, no prior criminal records, confessed honestly, showed remorse, made many contributions to society through charitable activities, and voluntarily influenced their families to pay compensation for the damages.