Former staff allege wholesale expiry-date changes and unregistered products at multi-branch skincare chain.

A popular beauty clinic in Batam is under police scrutiny after ex-employees alleged systematic manipulation of expiry dates and the use of unregistered cosmetic products across several outlets.

Former Staff Describe Systematic Expiry Date Tampering
A beauty clinic identified as EAC in Batam has been reported to the Riau Islands Regional Police (Polda Kepri) for allegedly altering expiry dates and breaching product licensing rules. Former employee Anggi Isma Pratiwi said that since she started work in September 2025, staff were instructed to change expiry dates on products that had already lapsed. She described a closed-door process using cleaning fluid to remove the original labels before printing new dates, typically adding several months so items appeared still usable. Another ex-employee, Fiki Anjeliani, backed her account and said the practice was not new and was believed to occur at multiple branches.

Large Sales Volumes And Questionable Product Licensing
According to Fiki, EAC operates three branches in Batam shopping centers and serves thousands of customers, with larger outlets reportedly selling tens of thousands of products each month. The range includes facial care such as sunscreen, serum, toner and creams. She alleged that some products were not registered with Indonesia’s National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) and that certain items may have already been expired before entering Indonesia. If proven, such practices would violate consumer protection, health and trade regulations, and could expose customers to skin irritation, infections or more serious health risks.

Staff Incentives Tied To In-House Product Use
The whistleblowers also said employees were effectively compelled to use the clinic’s own products. Bonuses were provided in the form of products rather than cash, making staff both sellers and users of the same items they now question. “The bonus cannot be converted to money. It has to be taken as products, so we ended up using them too,” one former worker said. This incentive structure may have deepened pressure on staff to comply with instructions on repackaging or relabelling, while spreading potentially unsafe products into their own households.

Legal Complaint And Calls For Stronger Oversight
The complainants’ lawyer, Ilpan Rambe, said his clients reported the case because they did not want to be drawn into alleged criminal conduct. He argued that the reported practices could breach multiple laws, from consumer protection to health and trade rules, and that his clients felt legally unsafe if the situation continued unchecked. Ilpan urged authorities to tighten monitoring of imported cosmetics and clamp down on products circulating without proper approval. He stressed that stronger oversight is needed to prevent the public from being harmed by items that fail to meet safety standards.

BPOM Checks And Police Investigation Under Way
Ahmad Iskandar Tanjung, head of the Riau Islands chapter of watchdog group LI BAPAN, said his organisation had previously received information about the alleged violations and sent a clarification letter to the clinic, but received no response after more than a week. Follow-up checks with BPOM indicated that some products linked to the clinic did not appear in official registration lists. Separately, AKBP Paksi Eka Syahputra, subdirector for industry and trade crimes at Polda Kepri, confirmed that police have received the report and are in the evidence-gathering phase. He said the force will pursue the case according to legal procedures, as residents in Batu Besar and across Batam demand full accountability if the allegations are confirmed.

The allegations against Batam’s EAC clinic highlight serious concerns about cosmetic safety, product traceability and enforcement gaps in Indonesia’s fast-growing beauty market. For Indonesians and Singaporeans, especially those who travel or shop across the strait, the case is a reminder to rely on properly registered products, demand transparency from brands and support regulators in holding violators to account so that health is never sacrificed for profit.

Sources: Straits Times (2026) , Mandala Pos (2026)

Keywords: Expiry Date Manipulation, Unregistered Cosmetics, Former Employees’ Report, Polda Kepri Investigation, BPOM Checks, Consumer Risk