ASANZO – EXONERATION OR CONSUMER DECEPTION
Related to a series of articles investigated by Tuoi Tre Newspaper about Asanzo Vietnam JSC trading Chinese goods disguised as Vietnamese goods. On September 17, 2019, Asanzo opened a press conference and presented a series of evidence to "exonerate" - including the release of a confirmation letter about the relationship between Sharp - Roxy Hong Kong and Asanzo (this letter had already been published by Asanzo before on September 12, 2019). At the same time, Asanzo affirmed that Sharp Roxy Hong Kong is a subsidiary company of Sharp Corporation (Japan). Therefore, "Asanzo using Japanese technology slogan is in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law" - Mr. Tran Duc Hoang, Asanzo's lawyer, speaking at the press conference. However, shortly after September 19, 2019, Sharp Electronics Vietnam officially spoke out that the evidence Asanzo presented was fake with argument that: On October 31, 2016, Sharp Roxy Hong Kong announced the end of business alliance with Roxy Electronic Company Limited and the registration of changing the company name from Sharp - Roxy Hong Kong to Sharp Hong Kong Limited. Therefore, since October 31, 2016, Sharp - Roxy Hong Kong has ceased to exist, so it is "impossible” for Sharp - Roxy Hong Kong to send a confirmation letter to Asanzo on September 12, 2019.
At the present, the related parties still do not have official information or completely authentic evidence to evaluate the truthfulness and accuracy of the documents from Sharp-Roxy Hong Kong. The following analysis of DTD is based on the assumption that Sharp Electronics Vietnam's allegations are substantiated. In that case, Asanzo may be liable for its actions when showing signs of criminal acts as prescribed by law, specifically as follows:
Article 198 of the 2015 Penal Code provides for customer deception, "other deceitful tricks" which can be interpreted as tricks to confuse customers into thinking that they have received the right goods and purchased the right goods with the same quality original deal. The consequences of deceiving customers are material and non-material damages to society such as human life, health, dignity and honor, but damage to property and society and other damages on politics, economy, culture and society ... The direct consequences of deceiving customers are causing material damage to customers, causing customers to lose part of the quantity or the quality of goods.
Accordingly, if the announcement of the Asanzo’s confirmation letter from Sharp-Roxy Hong Kong is proved to be a fraudulent act, this act may be considered a fraud, showing signs of crimes according to Article 198. Penal Code 2015.
In addition to the above legal and criminal matters, this action of Asanzo, in the case of being verified as true, may affect Sharp's reputation in particular and the electronics manufacturing industry in Vietnam in general, besides that, this incident may cause consumers to lose trust in domestic electronics products. With that, the reduction in competitiveness of domestic electronic products with foreign countries while the trend of "shopping foreign" of Vietnamese is increasing.
The above are views from the perspective of DTD and based on information collected from public information and assumptions made above. Assessing the authenticity of Asanzo's allegations of using fake papers and evidence as well as considering the legal consequences of this issue should be investigated and clarified by competent authorities to avoid the "slandering" of a brand and maximizing the protection of consumer's rights.
