Nghe An police have arrested the director of An Thinh Food for producing millions of liters of fake cooking oil under the Keva Gold brand, generating illegal profits of over USD 3 million.
On October 21, the Economic Police Division (PC03) under Nghe An Provincial Police announced the prosecution and arrest of Phan Thi Mai, born in 1977, residing in Thuan Trung commune, Nghe An province, on charges of “producing and trading counterfeit food products.”
Earlier, on June 17, authorities conducted a surprise inspection of An Thinh Food Trading Co., Ltd., located in Do Luong district and operated by Mai as director and legal representative.
During the inspection, officials seized 3,934 containers of cooking oil labeled Keva Gold, totaling 37,618 liters, which were confirmed to be manufactured by the company.
Phan Thi Mai under arrest. Photo: CACC.
According to investigation records, An Thinh Food was established by Mai on March 26, 2024, with its main registered business being the production of animal and vegetable oils.
After launching operations, she organized the construction of a factory, purchased equipment and raw materials, and hired workers to produce cooking oil under the Keva Gold brand for market distribution.
However, with the intent to illegally profit, Mai, as the person directing and operating the company’s palm oil production, meticulously planned and employed sophisticated tactics to evade detection by authorities, making the case more complex and difficult to investigate.
She instructed staff to omit adding vitamin A to the oil, a requirement under Vietnamese law, while falsely printing “fortified with vitamin A” on product labels to deceive consumers and inflate product value.
Millions of liters of counterfeit cooking oil were sold on the market. Photo: CACC.Inside the fake cooking oil production area. Photo: CACC.
In addition, she did not recall the products already released into the market.
According to forensic analysis, the product labels stated a sodium content of 23.7 mg/100g, but actual test results showed levels of less than 0.3 mg/100g, equivalent to just 1.3% of the declared content. All of the cooking oil produced by An Thinh Food was officially classified as counterfeit.
From April 2024 to the time of inspection, An Thinh Food manufactured over 2.7 million liters of cooking oil, valued at approximately VND 75 billion (around USD 3.07 million), which were supplied to dealers and consumers in Nghe An and other central provinces including Quang Tri, Hue, Quang Ngai, and Phu Yen.
The case is still under further investigation and expansion by the authorities.
Vietnamnet.vn
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