According to investigators, the couple ran a massive illegal cosmetics smuggling operation from 2020 to 2024, in which they imported low-cost, substandard products manufactured in Guangzhou, China, and resold them under the false pretense that they were made in Hong Kong.

The Ministry’s investigators allege that the Mailisa founders knowingly purchased products that did not meet quality or ingredient declarations and lacked the required Certificate of Free Sale (CFS) in China. To bypass these regulatory hurdles, they collaborated with Chinese partners to forge contracts and manipulate product origin information, laundering the goods through Hong Kong to obtain false CFS documents.

The cosmetics were then smuggled into Vietnam and heavily marketed as premium Hong Kong-manufactured products. By exploiting the perceived credibility of foreign brands, Mailisa was able to mark up prices significantly - sometimes several-fold - and allegedly generated illicit profits amounting to trillions of Vietnamese dong, equivalent to billions of USD. This figure stems from just three of the more than 100 core products distributed by the Mailisa network.

On the basis of the collected evidence, authorities have charged eight individuals with smuggling, as defined under Article 188 of Vietnam’s Penal Code. Those arrested include:

Phan Thi Mai, Director of Mailisa Beauty Clinic Co., Ltd.
Hoang Kim Khanh, General Director
Tran Dan Phuong, Chief Accountant
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Truc, Accountant at MK Skincare
Vuong Phuong Nghi, Director
Vo Hoai Son
Lu XueYi, an employee at Khai Hoan Import-Export Co., Ltd.
Do Bich Thuy, a money transfer service operator in Hanoi

In addition to the arrests, investigators have begun freezing assets, seizing evidence, and expanding the probe into related entities within the Mailisa business ecosystem, including MK Skincare and other affiliates.

Dozens of sealed boxes containing documents were removed from Mailisa spa branches in Hanoi and Dak Lak in mid-November. Police have also executed search warrants at the couple’s 4,000-square-meter luxury estate in Ho Chi Minh City.

Authorities emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and will be broadened to identify all individuals involved in the organized network. They have committed to thoroughly recovering assets for the state and prosecuting all offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

Dinh Hieu - Dam De