Kera candy production case - how were customers deceived?
The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency seized 33,201 boxes of finished Kera candy; 7,470 boxes of semi-finished candy; 2,048 kg of Kera candy; recovered 16.3 billion/17.5 billion VND in illegal profits the subjects earned from the production and trading of Kera candy products.
On August 30, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency concluded the investigation of the criminal case No. 47/KLĐT-VPCQCSĐT-P3, proposing prosecution for the case of "Deceiving customers" and "Producing fake food products"; at the same time, transferring all the case files and evidence along with the Investigation Conclusion to the Supreme People's Procuracy, proposing prosecution of 5 defendants belonging to the Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company group, including: Le Tuan Linh, Director, legal representative; Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (Hang du muc), Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Company; Le Thanh Cong, Director of the Company; Pham Quang Linh (Quang Linh Vlog), member of the Board of Directors and Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien (Miss Grand International 2021) for the crime of "Deceiving customers", prescribed in Clause 2, Article 198 of the Penal Code 2015.
In this case, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency also proposed to prosecute 5 defendants for the crime of "Producing counterfeit food products" belonging to Asia Life Joint Stock Company, including: Nguyen Phong, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Pham Thi Diem Trinh, Head of Product Research and Development Department; Tran Thi Le Thu, Head of Product Research and Development Department; Nguyen Thi Hong Vy, Director; Truong Thi Le, Head of Quality Assurance Department and Head of Quality Control Department as prescribed in Article 193 of the 2015 Penal Code.
As a result of the investigation, the Police Agency determined: The Super Greens Gummies food supplement product is a product of Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company, founded by Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (Hang Du Muc), Chairwoman of the Board of Directors; Pham Quang Linh (Quang Linh Vlogs), founding shareholder, member of the Board of Directors, in cooperation with Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, all of whom are famous KOLs, influential in cyberspace, processed and produced by Asia Life Joint Stock Company (at a price of 32,452 VND/box).
The product has been registered with the trademark "Kera" candy by Chi Em Rot Company at the Intellectual Property Office since December 18, 2024. The content of the announcement and introduction of the product shows that Kera candy is made from 28.13% natural vegetable powder. With the aim of increasing revenue and maximizing sales profits, the subjects posted information, introduced, promoted the product and sold it through the Facebook page "KERA VIETNAM" and Tiktok account "KERA VIETNAM" (all accounts were established and managed by Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company), Tiktok account: "Hang Du Muc" of Nguyen Thi Thai Hang, "Quang Linh Vlogs" of Pham Quang Linh.
Accordingly, the advertising, introduction and sales content shown by the advertisers: Kera candy is made from 10 types of natural vegetables, has the effect of supplementing fiber instead of vegetables, good for digestion. In which Pham Quang Linh introduced and promoted "1 pill equivalent to 1 plate of boiled vegetables" to attract consumers. During the period from December 12, 2024 to March 14, 2025, Chi Em Rot Company sold 135,325 boxes of Kera candy (with a listed price of 150,000 VND/box) to more than 30,000 customers, earning 17,546,963,347 VND.
However, in reality, in the process of producing Kera candy, Asia Life Joint Stock Company does not use natural vegetable ingredients but buys raw materials such as powders and additives to produce Kera candy, in which the vegetable powder content only accounts for 0.61% to 0.75%, much lower than the declared vegetable powder content (28.13%). In addition, the Chairman of Asia Life Joint Stock Company also directed the use of Sorbitol 70% (accounting for 35%), sugar (accounting for 12%) and many other additives.
Although the main ingredients are the above substances, the subjects did not announce to consumers to deceive consumers about the features and effects of Kera candy products, which are good for digestion and laxatives, due to the addition of natural fiber from vegetables and fruits. In fact, the laxative effect is due to the effect of Sorbitol in Kera candy (Sorbitol is an additive, sweetener in the food industry, and is also an ingredient to produce "laxatives" to treat constipation in medicine). Therefore, Kera candy is determined to be counterfeit (fake in quality), according to the Conclusion of the appraisal No. 2483/KL-KTHS dated March 31, 2025 of the Institute of Criminal Science of the Ministry of Public Security.
After receiving information from the mass media related to the Kera vegetable candy product of Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company being advertised falsely by Miss Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (Hang Du Muc) and Pham Quang Linh (Quang Linh Vlogs) on social networking platforms, causing public outrage and seriously affecting the rights of consumers, under the direct and comprehensive direction of the Deputy Minister, Head of the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security, the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security presided over and coordinated with the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention Police, Dak Lak Provincial Police, Ho Chi Minh City Police and professional units to concentrate forces, synchronously deploy professional measures, organize investigations and verify violations of the law related to the production and promotion of Kera candy of Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company on social networking platforms.
According to the investigation documents, Kera vegetable candy supplement is a product of Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien and shareholders of Chi Em Rot Company in cooperation, in which Tien receives profits according to the capital contribution agreement, equivalent to 30%, the remaining shareholders contribute 70% of the shares. After launching the product, Tien, Nguyen Thi Thai Hang and Pham Quang Linh provided false information to exaggerate the product's uses.
During the investigation, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency seized 33,201 boxes of finished Kera candy; 7,470 boxes of semi-finished candy; 2,048 kg of Kera candy; recovered 16.3 billion/17.5 billion VND in illegal profits from the production and sale of Kera candy products. The police agency also determined that Miss Thuy Tien received a commission of up to 7 billion VND.
