Kera candy case: Thuy Tien is being considered for special mitigating circumstances.
Miss Vietnam Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien and her accomplices are about to stand trial for defrauding customers. The prosecution is requesting consideration of several mitigating circumstances, with Thuy Tien having an additional factor of "outstanding achievements."
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court is scheduled to open the first-instance trial of Miss Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien and her accomplices on November 19th for the crime of "Deceiving customers". During the prosecution, authorities have requested the application of several mitigating circumstances, especially one specific factor for Thuy Tien.
The defendants in the case include Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, Le Tuan Linh (Director of Chi Em Rot Group Joint Stock Company), Le Thanh Cong (Member of the Board of Directors), Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (Hang Du Muc), and Pham Quang Linh (Quang Linh Vlogs). The Supreme People's Procuracy prosecuted the defendants under point d, clause 2, Article 198 of the Penal Code, with a potential sentence of up to 5 years imprisonment.
Mitigating circumstances are taken into consideration.
According to the indictment, none of the defendants had any aggravating circumstances. During the investigation, all five voluntarily confessed, showed remorse, had no prior criminal record, and had made significant contributions to charitable activities.
The defendants also influenced their families to return the illegally obtained money, specifically:
- Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien: 3.2 billion VND
- Nguyen Thi Thai Hang: 2.18 billion VND
- Pham Quang Linh: 1.2 billion VND
- Le Thanh Cong: 1.6 billion VND
- Le Tuan Linh: 600 million VND
Specifically, Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien was recommended for additional mitigating circumstances under point v, clause 1, Article 51 of the Penal Code, because she "has outstanding achievements in her studies and work." This circumstance is based on the fact that she was awarded the Certificate of Merit as an Outstanding Young Vietnamese in 2021.
Allegations of deceptive conduct toward customers.
The case file identifies the product in question as SuperGreens Gummies ("Kera candy"), a dietary supplement owned and quality-controlled by Chi Em Rot Company. The product was manufactured and packaged by Asia Company.
The prosecution alleges that the defendants failed to inspect and monitor product quality. They are accused of knowing that the fiber content in each candy was only 0.935%, insufficient to deliver the advertised benefits. Furthermore, the processing company did not have a raw material source that met VietGAP standards, and the origin of the raw materials was not scientifically verified.
However, the defendants still issued self-declarations of the product with false information about its ingredients, and simultaneously created scenarios and filmed deceptive promotional videos about its origin, technology, and uses on social media.
As a result, from December 12, 2024 to March 14, 2025, 56,385 customers purchased 129,617 boxes of candy, generating a total revenue of 17.55 billion VND. The amount of illicit profit was determined to be 12.46 billion VND.
