A beauty queen was arrested on charges of fraud after selling fibre gummies which she marketed with false advertising.
Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, who has 2.7m followers on Instagram, promoted supplements under her brand Kera.
The 26-year-old’s arrest came as part of an investigation into the companies Asia Life and Chi Em Rot Group.
The organisations are currently being looked into for the production of deceptive vegetable gummies, according to the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam.
Local press has reported that Nguyen owns 30 per cent of the shares of Chi Em Rot Group.
She is under house arrest after it came to light that she participated in both the production and sale of the fibre gummies.
It was also reported that Nguyen signed an advertising contract that contemplated hiding her role as a shareholder of Chi Em Rot Group.
The model assured that the gummies contained an amount of fibre which is equivalent to a vegetable-based dish.
She promoted them to contain 200mg however an analysis of the product found each one only provided 16mg.
Tests on the product also discovered high levels of sorbitol, a natural sugar alcohol used in laxatives, as reported by Need To Know.
Four senior officials of both Asia Life and Chi Em Rot Group were arrested as well as the Vietnamese beauty queen.
Police are currently investigating the companies to clarify further details.
A spokesperson for the police said: “The Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security is expanding the investigation, clarifying all the crimes of the related persons to manage them strictly according to the provisions of the law.”
Nguyen, born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, became a beauty icon after she won the title Miss Grand International in 2021.
After winning the contest, she signed numerous collaboration contracts with Vietnamese brands and appeared on various reality shows.
She also received certificates of merit from the prime minister and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union under Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party.
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