Taipei prosecutors charge two executives with fraud over mislabeled camellia oil

Taipei District Prosecutors have filed fraud charges against Chen Chung Hsiu-hui, a manager at Dynas International Corp., and tea-seed supplier Chen Yuan-nong. The pair allegedly sourced camellia oil made from Chinese tea seeds at Yuan Chuen Oil Mill in Chiayi County, then marketed it under the “Gaoyangsan” brand as being produced entirely from Taiwanese native tea seeds, complete with an “Origin: Taiwan” label. Chen Chung is accused of directing the purchases and overseeing bottling, while Chen Yuan-nong also sold Chinese seeds to Dynas, misrepresenting their origin for personal gain.

Prosecutors calculate that Dynas profited NT$17.79 million and Chen Yuan-nong NT$2.07 million from the false-labelled oil. The indictment seeks seizure of the illicit proceeds and heavy sentences, noting the deception endangered consumers amid recent concerns about carcinogenic benzo[a]pyrene in cooking oils. Several batches of Dynas camellia oil have already been found to contain excessive BaP levels.