Selling of fake senitiser probed

THE General Department of Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Prevention is continuing to pursue legal action against sellers of fake alcohol after having acted in five cases from March until this Tuesday. But only one fake alcohol distributor had gone to the department to solve the issue.

Its director-general Phan Oun told The Post on Monday that a total of 64,000 litres of fake alcohol mixed with methanol, which is a poisonous substance that can’t be used to get rid of viruses, has been destroyed since Friday by a joint task force, the Phnom Penh municipality and the deputy prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

He said the General Department had delivered subsequent notices to the owners of the fake products to come in and solve the issue with the authorities.

“In total, we have investigated five cases. One distributor showed up to give us more information. This allowed us to build a criminal case and send it to the prosecutor,” said Oun.

A report by the General Department said the destruction of 64,000 litres of fake alcohol took place on Friday at septic station one in Prek Pnov District, Prek Pnov Commune, Phnom Penh.

The General Department’s deput y director-genera l Dim Theng said: “In the context where our countr y, as well as t he world, is facing t he spread of Covid-19, the need for a lcohol to clean hands and get rid of t he v irus has increased dramatically.

“This has triggered the opportunity for economic exploitation by some fraudsters, for example, to distribute methanol, causing serious harm to consumer health.”

He said the General Department would continue to investigate the sale of methanol substances. National Police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun said while the government was paying attention to the fight against the spread of Covid-19, some fraudsters are selling fake products instead.

The National Police has taken part in implementing the government’s order and is cracking down and preventing the trafficking of fake alcohol.

“This is t he dut y of t he Nationa l Police and we have cooperated in implementing t he prevention of illega l product sa les and the import of dut y-free goods as well as t he forging of trademarks.

“Therefore, in principle, we are serious about this investigation and preventing cases so it won’t happen again,” he said.

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