The fake formula seized by the police. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Four defendants have been prosecuted in connection with the large-scale production, trade, and distribution of counterfeit formula in Hà Nội and neighbouring provinces, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency announced on Monday.

Nguyễn Văn Quân has been charged with "fraudulent appropriation of property" under Clause 4, Article 174 of the Penal Code. Meanwhile, Vũ Mạnh Cường and Hoàng Mạnh Hà face charges of "bribery" as outlined in Clause 4, Article 364, and Phạm Gia Khải has been accused of "bribery brokerage" under Clause 4, Article 365 of the Penal Code.

Following a police inspection and the temporary seizure of their goods on December 27 last year, Hoàng Mạnh Hà and Vũ Mạnh Cường allegedly conspired to evade severe punishment and criminal prosecution.

Cường prepared $150,000 and gave Hà.

Hà then handed the money to Phạm Gia Khải, 54, a resident of Phú Thượng Ward, Tây Hồ District, Hà Nội, and the former General Director of the Việt Nam Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company. Khải, in turn, passed it on to Nguyễn Văn Quân, 48, a freelancer living in Yên Phụ Ward, Tây Hồ District. Khải instructed Quân to use the money as a bribe to prevent criminal prosecution for the two companies and the defendants involved.

Quân falsely claimed to have connections with officials and State agencies capable of reducing the level of punishment, leading Khải to believe him.

But, after receiving $150,000, Quân appropriated and used it for personal purposes.

On April 10, the Investigation Police Agency initiated legal proceedings against four individuals—Hoàng Mạnh Hà, Vũ Mạnh Cường, Đặng Trung Kiên, and Hồ Sỹ Ý—for producing and trading counterfeit formula. Additionally, seven individuals—Hoàng Mạnh Hà, Vũ Mạnh Cường, Đặng Trung Kiên, Nguyễn Thành Luân, Nguyễn Văn Tú, Nguyễn Thu Thuỷ, and Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương—were charged with violating accounting regulations, resulting in serious consequences.

During the investigation, authorities temporarily seized 90 batches of food and nutritional products in formula form, totaling more than 26,700 cans.

Of these, 12 batches were analyded and found to contain quality indicators of certain substances at levels below 70 per cent of the prescribed standard. This violation contravenes Point b, Clause 7, Article 3 of Government Decree 98/2020/NĐ-CP, issued on August 26, 2020.

The remaining 78 batches are being assessed and investigated to clarify the crime of "producing and trading counterfeit food products".

Initial investigation from 2021 to present showed that the defendants have created two accounting systems to conceal actual revenue to divide profits among shareholders, causing damage to the State budget.

In fact, the amount of value added tax that the Rance Pharma Company must pay was more than VNĐ24 billion (US$923,100) whereas the Hacofood Company must pay nearly VNĐ4.5 billion ($173,000). — VNS