Couple prosecuted for allegedly producing over 20 tonnes of substandard coffee in Vietnam

Police officers initiated criminal proceedings against and arrested Phan Danh Duong Bao, 52, for allegedly producing and trading substandard ground coffee.

His wife, Ho Thuy Bich Dan, 47, was also prosecuted for the same offense but was released on bail and banned from leaving her residence.

According to initial investigations, at 2:20 pm on May 25, police officers in Dak Lak Province caught Bao and his son delivering 120 kilograms of ground coffee in unlabelled silver plastic bags to a woman in Thanh Cong Ward, Buon Ma Thuot City.

At the time, Bao was unable to present any invoices or documents verifying the origin of the goods.

Given signs of legal violations, police summoned all individuals involved for questioning and conducted an urgent search of the couple’s production site in Khanh Hoa Province.

During the search, officers seized various machines used for roasting and packaging coffee, more than two metric tons of raw materials including soybeans, sugar, colorants, and flavorings, as well as 1,604 bags of finished ground coffee weighing nearly one metric ton.

The couple admitted to purchasing ingredients and equipment to produce the substandard coffee. 

They declared that only three to nine kilograms of real coffee beans were used for every 100 kilograms of finished products, with the remainder consisting of soybeans and additives.

Since the beginning of 2024, the couple has produced over 20 metric tons of substandard ground coffee, distributing it to several provinces including Binh Dinh, Lam Dong, and Dak Lak.