Customs on Wednesday announced that its officers have arrested a 22-year-old female saleswoman over suspicion of unfair trade practices.

This came as the department conducted a follow-up operation against a beauty company suspected of engaging in aggressive commercial practices in the sale of skincare products and beauty devices.

Following the arrest of a financial manager and an administrative manager of the company, Senior Investigation Officer Leung Ka-ho said the arrestee is a frontline saleswoman.

“[The woman] allegedly exerted undue influence and conducted improper commercial conduct while selling beauty products at the company’s Sha Tin branch, causing a customer to make a purchase that would not have occurred otherwise,” he said.

“Therefore, customs carried out this operation. I stress that the investigation is still ongoing, and more arrests could be made.”

Leung said the department has received 38 reports against the beauty company so far, involving a total of HK$3 million.

Officers would continue to follow up on the reports, he said.


Edited by Aaron Tam