Vietnam: Asia Life Chairman Sentenced to 15 Years for Counterfeit Food Production

In Vietnam's Dak Lak province, Nguyen Phong, 40, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asia Life Joint Stock Company, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for directing the production of nearly 168,000 boxes of counterfeit 'Kera candy' and other food supplements. His wife, Nguyen Pham Hong Vy, 39, Director of Asia Life JSC, received an 11-year, 6-month sentence for counterfeit goods production and tax evasion. She was also fined an additional 150 million VND. Six other defendants, Pham Thi Diem Trinh, Truong Thi Le, Tran Thi Le Thu, Le Thi Thu Hien, Tu Kien Trung, and Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong, were sentenced to between one and six years in prison. According to the indictment, from September 2024 to October 2025, Asia Life JSC was contracted to produce and process four types of food supplements: SuperGreens Gummies (Kera candy), Green Nutrition Organic Kale, Kombutea Slim+, and Mequib Happii Gummies. These were for companies including Chi Em Rot (linked to Hằng Du Mục, Quang Linh Vlogs), Chau Nhien Company, Win City Company, and Nutri Mien Nam. Phong and Vy are accused of instructing departments to use ingredients with a content 70% lower than declared on product labels and packaging, without notifying the ordering companies. They then allegedly directed the falsification of production records, such as production orders, material release slips, batch records, control sheets, and dispatch orders, to conceal the discrepancies. Asia Life produced 167,963 boxes of Kera candy, 3,269 boxes of Green Nutrition Organic Kale, 8,000 boxes of Kombutea Slim+, and 2,996 bottles of Mequib Happii Gummies. These products were determined to be counterfeit, with a total value exceeding 6.25 billion VND (approximately $250,000 USD). Forensic examination by the Ministry of Public Security's Institute of Forensic Science revealed that SuperGreens Gummies lacked 10 types of advertised fruit and vegetable powders, totaling 28.13% of the declared content. The samples contained 33.8% sorbitol, which was not listed on the label or in the declared ingredients. The other three products also had significantly lower main ingredient content than declared, with Maxicuma in Green Nutrition Organic Kale and Kombutea Slim+ at less than 6.25% and 10% respectively, and Vitamin C in Mequib Happii Gummies at only 7%. As quality indicators were below 70% of the declared levels, all four products were classified as counterfeit. Phong and Vy are identified as having played the primary roles, directly managing and approving the counterfeit production. The other defendants were involved in formula research, declaration filings, quality control, production organization, and documentation. Tu Kien Trung, director of the Asia Life factory, is accused of signing production orders and directing the creation of falsified documents, aiding in the production of 7,836 boxes of counterfeit Kera candy, valued at over 254 million VND. In addition to counterfeit production, Vy is also accused of instructing the chief accountant, Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong, to evade taxes in 2023 and 2024. According to the indictment, Asia Life sold goods to five companies and individual customers, generating over 20.25 billion VND in revenue. Vy allegedly instructed Phuong to issue 23 invoices totaling over 4.17 billion VND while failing to declare actual revenue of more than 16.07 billion VND. This act is estimated to have caused a tax revenue loss of over 3.34 billion VND, including over 3.13 billion VND in corporate income tax and over 208 million VND in value-added tax.