Taipei:Prosecutors have indicted two individuals on charges of fraud, accusing them of using Chinese tea seeds to produce camellia oil falsely labeled as entirely made from Taiwanese tea seeds.

According to Focus Taiwan, the indicted individuals are Chen Chung Hsiu-hui, a business manager at Dynas International Corp. in Taipei, and independent tea seed supplier Chen Yuan-nong. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office outlined their roles in the production and supply of the fraudulent camellia oil.

From 2023 through the end of 2024, Chen Chung allegedly either purchased China-made camellia oil from Yuan Chuen Oil Mill or commissioned the mill to produce oil using Chinese tea seeds. This oil was then bottled under the "Gaoyangsan" brand with labels falsely claiming it was made from "100 percent Taiwanese native tea seeds" and marked with an "Origin Taiwan" designation.

Chen Yuan-nong is accused of supplying Chinese tea seeds to Dynas while falsely asserting they were from Taiwan, both independently and in collaboration with Chen Chung, for personal profit. Chen Chung is said to have concealed the true origin of the camellia oil from Tingmao Agricultural Biotechnology Co. and Yuen Foong Yu Biotech Co., who continued to order from Dynas under false pretenses.

Dynas reportedly earned NT$17.79 million (US$556,829) in profits from the sale of the camellia oil, while Chen made NT$2.07 million from supplying the seeds. Prosecutors are seeking to seize these criminal proceeds and have asked the court to impose heavy sentences, citing the risk to consumers from the concealed origin and quality of the oil.

The case has surfaced amid broader concerns over food safety, particularly regarding excessive levels of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) found in cooking oil. Some batches of Dynas's camellia oil were also found to contain excessive levels of BaP.