Beware, foreigners! You may have eaten Indian buffalo meat imported by this arrestee instead of northwestern Vietnam’s specialty!

Police in Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam said Monday that they had prosecuted and detained Vu Hoang Hai, also known as 'Hai Sapa TV,' and two other suspects in a case involving alleged customer deception and serious accounting violations.

Police said the investigation was conducted in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security's environmental crime police department to clarify suspected legal violations involving Hai and other related individuals and organizations.

The provincial Investigation Police Agency has opened a criminal case over "violations of accounting regulations causing serious consequences" and "deceiving customers."

Three suspects have been prosecuted and placed in temporary detention.

Hai was charged with allegedly deceiving customers. The other two suspects, Pham Van Ha, director of Hoang Nam General Production and Trading JSC, and Bui Thi Kim Tuyen, were charged with violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences.

The decisions and detention orders were approved by the Lao Cai People's Procuracy.

According to police, in 2022 Hai used his influence on social media to direct his wife Tuyen to sign a contract to distribute a product marketed as spicy and numbing dried buffalo meat.

The product was actually made by Hoang Nam General Production and Trading JSC using frozen buffalo meat imported from India, police said.

The suspects, however, advertised the product as "northwestern Vietnam's specialty dried buffalo meat," which is popular with foreign tourists, according to the investigation.

From social media fame to a growing business empire

Hai Sapa TV is a YouTuber and TikToker known for videos about food, local specialties, culture, daily life, and businesses selling products associated with Vietnam's northwestern region, including smoked buffalo meat and cham cheo, a traditional spicy dipping sauce.

His TikTok account has more than 5.2 million followers, while his Sapa TV YouTube channel has nearly two million subscribers.

Hai has also frequently shown off valuable assets on social media. Among them are a two-frontage shophouse in Lao Cai and two restaurants in Sa Pa, a famous resort town in the province, that he said had received investments of more than VND100 billion (US$3.8 million).

He has also appeared at events involving several Internet personalities known as notorious "online gangsters," including Huan Hoa Hong and Phu Le.

After years of earning money through YouTube, social media businesses, and restaurants, Hai expanded further into formal business operations in early 2025.

According to information published on Vietnam's National Business Registration Portal, Sapa TV Group JSC was established on January 13, 2025, with its headquarters on Lac Long Quan Street in Lao Cai.

Hai is the company's legal representative and director. The company registered charter capital of VND50 billion ($1.9 million), with the man contributing VND30 billion ($1.15 million).

Its main business is short-term accommodation service. The company also registered activities including travel agency services, wholesale trading of agricultural and forestry products, food and advertising.

More recently, Hai Sapa TV has opened stalls selling horse thang co, a traditional horse-meat and offal stew associated with the northern highlands, at fairs in northern Vietnamese provinces and cities.