The People's Procuracy Region 9 has completed an indictment against Lam Thi Kim Nuong, 43; Kieu Hoang Nha, 38, director of Hikachi Pharmaceutical - Cosmetics Company; and four other individuals. The case file has been transferred to the court for the prosecution of Nuong's group on charges of producing and trading counterfeit cosmetics.
Foreign-labeled cosmetics distributed across provinces
According to the indictment, in 2023, Nuong produced and traded various skincare cosmetics in TP HCM. Initially, she resold finished products from Hikachi Pharmaceutical - Cosmetics Manufacturing Limited Company, featuring labels such as Olay, Vaseline, Arbutin, and Bach Ngoc Lien, to generate profit.
From 1/2025, Hikachi ceased supplying finished products. Instead, the company provided cream already decanted into jars, accompanied by stamps, labels, packaging, and shrink wrap. Nuong then took over the final stages, personally applying labels with famous brands and origins like "Made in Thailand" and "Made in US", shrink-wrapping, and packaging the products for market sale.
Nuong also sourced cream ingredients, jars, and shrink wrap independently from Cho Lon (former District 5). She commissioned a printing facility to create custom stamps and labels, enabling her to produce additional lines of whitening and exfoliating creams under foreign brands and origins.
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Lam Thi Kim Nuong and Kieu Hoang Nha (from right to left, respectively) with accomplices at the time of their arrest. *Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Police*. |
To operate the workshop, Nuong hired three regular staff members. These employees shared responsibilities, including: putting ingredients into mixing machines, pumping cream into jars, applying stamps and labels, shrink-wrapping, and packaging finished products, all under Nuong's supervision.
Nuong handled payments for raw materials, packaging, stamps, and labels directly to suppliers via bank accounts.
For sales, Nuong promoted the cosmetics on her Facebook account "Lam Nuong" and TikTok account "Shop My Pham Co Nuong" to attract customers and receive orders. Once orders were placed, she instructed employees to complete products and arranged delivery through staff or hired shippers.
Investigations revealed that most buyers were wholesale distributors in the Southern and Central provinces.
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Mixed cream was concocted in the workshop from chemicals of unknown origin. *Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Police*. |
Over 10,000 products discovered in workshop
On 2/7/2025, Ho Chi Minh City Police raided Nuong's workshop. They discovered over 10,000 counterfeit cosmetic products, hundreds of kilograms of cream, chemicals, stamps, labels, packaging, and various machines for mixing, decanting, and packaging.
The investigation expanded to include searches of Hikachi Company and related sites. Authorities seized additional semi-finished products, stamps, labels, packaging, and equipment used for producing fake cosmetics.
According to the valuation report, the seized goods were worth over VND 104 million. Prosecuting authorities accuse the defendants of illicitly profiting approximately VND 50 million.
Binh Nguyen
