Hoàng Văn Toàn (centre) led the fraud ring, illegally profiting over US$8.6 million. — Photo plo.vn

THANH HÓA — Police in Thanh Hóa Province have dismantled a sprawling fraud network that allegedly duped thousands of people across the country with unlicensed traditional medicines falsely advertised as a three-generation family remedy.

On Thursday, provincial police announced they had busted the operation and, together with police in other localities, raided two premises linked to Hoàng Minh Đường Co Ltd, headed by director Hoàng Văn Toàn, 40, from Bá Thước Commune.

At a production site in residential area 1 in Bá Thước Commune and a clinic on Khuất Duy Tiến Street in Hà Nội, officers seized machinery and raw materials used to make the so-called medicines along with customer lists, scripted consultation scenarios, computers and phones believed to be tied to the scam.

According to investigators, Toàn and associate Lê Đình Tiến, 30, also from Bá Thước, began pushing a product branded as Hoàng Minh Đường herbal bone and joint poultice on social media from around October 2023 after spotting the profit potential of online advertising.

Although they knew the medicine was unlicensed and not a genuine ancestral formula, they marketed it as a three-generation family cure for bone and joint diseases, guaranteeing a complete and permanent recovery.

As orders poured in, the pair agreed to set up Hoàng Minh Đường Co Ltd and split profits from the clinic — 70 per cent for Toàn and 30 per cent for Tiến.

Toàn allegedly sourced various plant materials from residents, then had staff chop, grind and mix them into powder according to his own recipe before packaging them as medicine.

After the company was registered in July 2024, the operation expanded with in-person and online consultations, media marketing and admin, HR, and legal teams to drive sales and polish its image.

Heavy promotion on social media drew customers from across the nation. Many were allegedly lured by false promises and high-pressure advice designed to sell large quantities of the product.

Data extracted from the group’s online sales system show that from 2023 to 2025, they processed nearly 87,000 orders, reaping more than VNĐ227 billion (over US$8.6 million) in illicit revenue.

Police say many patients reported swelling, tissue necrosis and other serious complications after using the products.

Investigators found that several key members of the network knew Toàn was not a licensed traditional medicine practitioner and that the remedies had no legal standing but still helped promote and sell them for profit, exploiting people’s desperation for quick cures and branding the product as a miracle drug and family secret recipe.

Based on initial findings, Thanh Hóa’s Security Investigation Agency has opened a criminal case and prosecuted Toàn, Tiến and 10 others for fraudulent appropriation of property.

The investigation is ongoing and police say all those involved will be dealt with strictly under the law. — VNS