11 jailed for faking popular baby formula brands

SHANGHAI -- Eleven people received jail terms in Shanghai Friday, after being convicted of producing and selling counterfeit baby formula imitating popular foreign and domestic brands.

The defendants were sentenced to between three and 15 years in prison, according to the verdicts given by Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court.

Five people, including Chen Mingjiang and Gu Chuansheng, were found guilty of manufacturing milk powder cans that copied the designs and logos of Beingmate and Abbott, filling them with cheap and inferior formula from other brands, and selling them in 2014 and 2015. Four others helped manufacture the cans and another two helped with the sales.

The defendants' illegal gains ranged from 1.2 million yuan ($178,000) to 3.6 million yuan.

The Shanghai food safety watchdog, police, and procuratorate were alerted in September 2015 after Abbott reported the case.

The can-making company based in east China's Shandong Province was fined 4 million yuan by the court.