Former food safety chief arrested for bribery in massive fake supplement scandal

Nguyen Thanh Phong, former head of the Vietnam Food Administration, has been arrested along with four subordinates for allegedly taking bribes in a major counterfeit dietary supplement scandal.

The Ministry of Public Security's Anti-Corruption Police Department (C03) said Tuesday it would prosecute Phong and Dinh Quang Minh, director of the Center for Food Safety Application and Training, Nguyen Thi Minh Hai, its deputy director, specialist Le Thi Hien, and Cao Van Trung, deputy head of the food poisoning surveillance department.


Nguyen Thanh Phong, former director of Vietnam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health. Photo by VnExpress/Linh Dan

Hai has been placed under house arrest, while the remaining four have been taken in.

Phong served as head of the VFA for two terms from 2015 until the end of last year. The agency is tasked with advising the health minister and enforcing food safety regulations.

Their arrests is part of a wider investigation into the production of hundreds of tons of counterfeit dietary supplements by Nguyen Nang Manh, CEO of MegaPhaco and Chairman of MEDIUSA, both based in Hanoi.

According to C03, Manh and his associates distributed fake supplements by bribing inspection teams from the VFA for securing favorable reports, guidance on how to fix violations and gain extra time to comply with regulations.

The five officials are also accused of wrongfully approving four good manufacturing practice certifications for MediPhar and MEDIUSA's factories and issuing 20 product registration certificates for nine of Manh's companies.

Earlier, the police had also arrested Manh and several others, including directors and accounting staff from related companies, for producing and trading counterfeit food products and violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences.

Investigators said the group used low-quality or untraceable raw materials, some imported from China, and falsely labeled the final products as being imported from the U.S. or Europe.

Tests revealed that the actual amounts of many ingredients were less than 30% of what was stated on the product labels.
Police seized about 100 tons of fake functional foods. Photo: Photo by police

Police seize about 100 tons of fake supplements at a facility in Vietnam. Photo by police

Since 2016 Manh and his accomplices allegedly set up multiple companies to legalize the production and sale of fake supplements targeted at elderly people and children.

The counterfeiting occurred through the entire production process, starting from the import of raw materials to manufacturing, packaging and distribution.

The group also maintained two sets of accounting records, one for internal use and one for tax authorities, to evade taxes, causing the government losses that have yet to be announced.

When alerted to the investigation, they attempted to destroy evidence, shut down factories and flee. Nevertheless, raiding police officers found 100 tons of fake supplements.


VietBF@ Sưu tập