Vietnamese court jails three for 46 years over fake food sales on Shopee

A court in Tay Ninh province, Vietnam, has sentenced three individuals to a combined 46 years in prison for their involvement in selling counterfeit food products through the e-commerce platform Shopee.

Phan Trọng Hiếu and his wife, Nguyễn Thị Hào, along with accomplice Tô Hạnh Nhi, were found guilty of large-scale counterfeit goods trading. The scheme involved setting up 20 Shopee storefronts to sell fake health supplements, defrauding consumers and generating significant illicit profits.

Hiếu and Hào collaborated with Hoàng Thị Hiền to procure fake ingredients, including green tea powder, wheat flour, and empty capsules. These were then assembled into capsules, packaged with counterfeit labels from various brands like Vichi++, Be Alive, and Kompucha, and marketed as health products. To further deceive customers, the group used unregistered SIM cards, copied online advertisements, and fabricated positive reviews and sales figures.

Authorities seized over 721 boxes of Vichi++, 439 boxes of BeAlive Slimbe, and numerous other counterfeit items, along with packaging materials and labeling. The total value of the seized fake food products was over 322.7 million Vietnamese dong (approximately $13,000 USD). Bank records revealed that Hào profited over 1.75 billion dong, Hiếu over 603 million dong, and Nhi over 110 million dong, totaling nearly 2.5 billion dong (approximately $100,000 USD) in illegal earnings.

Phan Trọng Hiếu received the longest sentence of 16 years, while Nguyễn Thị Hào and Tô Hạnh Nhi were each sentenced to 15 years. They have been ordered to forfeit all illicit profits. Hoàng Thị Hiền is facing separate charges related to counterfeit goods.