HCMC – Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, Miss Grand International 2021, has received a two-year prison sentence for customer deception related to the “Kera vegetable candy” scandal.
After a full day of hearings, on the afternoon of November 19, the HCMC People’s Court delivered its verdicts for the defendants in the “customer deception” case involving CER Group JSC and Asia Life JSC.
Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (also known on social media as Hang Du Mục, chairwoman of CER Group), and Pham Quang Linh (known on social media as Quang Linh Vlogs) were each sentenced to two years in prison for “deceiving customers,” under Clause 2, Article 198 of the Penal Code.
Le Tuan Linh, director and legal representative of CER, and board member Le Thanh Cong were each handed three years and three months in prison for the same charge.
In addition, the court imposed an extra fine of VND50 million on each defendant.
According to the trial panel, during the production of Kera candy by Asia Life JSC, the defendants failed to carry out product quality checks as required under the signed contract.
The defendants knew the company lacked VietGAP-certified raw materials and were aware that lab results showed the candy contained just 0.935% fiber (0.03 grams per piece), providing virtually no real fiber benefit for people with low vegetable intake.
The defendants were unaware of the origin and composition of the ingredients, and they had no scientific evidence to support the claim that “one candy equals a plate of vegetables.”
Even so, they issued a self-declared product announcement stating that the candy contained 10 types of vegetable, tuber, and fruit powders, making up 28.13% of its ingredients.
Investigators found that from December 12, 2024, to March 14, 2025, Le Tuan Linh, Le Thanh Cong, Nguyen Thi Thai Hang, Pham Quang Linh, and Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien spread false and misleading information across social media platforms.
During this period, Hang livestreamed five times; Quang Linh livestreamed six times; and Thuy Tien appeared in three livestreams.
Between December 12, 2024, and March 14, 2025, the defendants used these deceptive claims on social networks to sell a total of 129,617 boxes of Kera candy to 56,385 customers, generating over VND17.5 billion in revenue and nearly VND12.5 billion in illegal profit.
