Asia Life chairman sentenced to 15 years for producing counterfeit Kera candy

Nguyen Phong, chairman of Asia Life Joint Stock Company, received a 15-year prison sentence for directing the production of nearly 168,000 boxes of Kera candy and numerous other counterfeit dietary supplements.

On september 10, Nguyen Phong, 40, was convicted by the Dak Lak Provincial People's Court of producing counterfeit food products and given an additional fine of 100 million dong.

His wife, Nguyen Pham Hong Vy, 39, who served as director of Asia Life Joint Stock Company, received an 11-year, six-month prison sentence for producing counterfeit goods and tax evasion. She was also ordered to pay an additional fine of 150 million dong.

The 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 – received sentences ranging from one to six years in prison.

According to the indictment, from september 2024 to october 2025, Asia Life Company manufactured and processed four types of dietary supplements: SuperGreens Gummies (Kera candy), Green Nutrition Organic Kale, Kombutea Slim+, and Mequib Happii Gummies. These products were made for Chi Em Rot Company (associated with Hang Du Muc and Quang Linh Vlogs), Chau Nhien Company, Win City Company, and Nutri Mien Nam Company.

Defendants Nguyen Phong and Nguyen Pham Hong Vy were accused of instructing departments to use raw materials with an actual content more than 70% lower than what was declared in the product documentation, labels, and packaging. They did not inform the ordering companies of this discrepancy.

Following this, the two defendants directed the creation of fabricated production records, including production orders, raw material release forms, batch records, control sheets, and factory release orders. These falsified documents showed ingredient compositions and quantities that matched the declared specifications, thereby concealing the actual production practices.

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 identified as counterfeit, with a total value exceeding 6,25 billion dong.

An assessment by the Institute of Criminal Science of the Ministry of Public Security revealed that SuperGreens Gummies did not contain the 10 types of vegetable, root, and fruit powders declared, which were supposed to make up 28,13% of the total content. The sample also contained 33,8% sorbitol, a substance not listed on the label or in the declared documentation.

The other three products also contained significantly lower amounts of main ingredients than declared. Maxicuma in Green Nutrition Organic Kale and Kombutea Slim+ was found to be below 6,25% and 10% of the declared levels, respectively, while vitamin C in Mequib Happii Gummies was only 7%. As the quality indicators for all four products were more than 70% lower than the declared levels, they were all classified as counterfeit.

Phong and Vy were identified as playing the main roles, directly managing and agreeing on the policy of producing counterfeit goods. The other defendants participated in formula research, declaration document preparation, quality control, production organization, and document finalization.

Tu Kien Trung, Asia Life's factory director, was accused of signing production orders and directing the creation of fabricated records, which facilitated the production of 7,836 boxes of counterfeit Kera candy, valued at over 254 million dong.

In addition to producing counterfeit goods, Vy was also accused of instructing 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 dong in revenue. Vy directed Phuong to issue 23 invoices with a total value exceeding 4,17 billion dong, but failed to declare actual revenue of over 16,07 billion dong.

This action led to a budget loss exceeding 3,34 billion dong, comprising over 3,13 billion dong in corporate income tax and over 208 million dong in value-added tax.