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New Businesses of 'Wellbiotech,' Suspected of Being Involved in Sambu Construction Stock Manipulation, All Collapsed

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that the new businesses that Wellbiotech010600 ambitiously pursued in the past have all collapsed. The subsidiaries established for these new ventures have also been sold off. In the past, Wellbiotech garnered interest from numerous investors by proposing new businesses such as electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and biotechnology. However, it failed to produce any significant results.

Wellbiotech is currently under investigation by the special prosecutor's team for the Kim Keon-hee case (led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki). Wellbiotech is an affiliate of the former Sambu Construction001470 and is suspected of being used in stock manipulation involving Sambu Construction. Lee Il-jun, the former chairman of Sambu Construction, and others are accused of manipulating stock prices by deceiving investors as if Sambu Construction were pushing for projects related to the reconstruction of Ukraine. When Sambu Construction attended events such as the Ukraine reconstruction forum, Wellbiotech also attended, signaling its intention to join the reconstruction efforts.

In 2022, Wellbiotech proposed two new businesses: EV charging stations and PDRN. PDRN (Polydeoxyribonucleotide) is a DNA substance extracted from salmon sperm. At the time, Wellbiotech announced its plan to enter the cosmetics and pharmaceutical business using PDRN. To this end, it established Wellbiotech EVC to handle the EV charging station business and Wellbiotech PDRN to manage the PDRN business.

Currently, neither company is a subsidiary of Wellbiotech. Wellbiotech established Wellbiotech EVC on May 12, 2022, and sold its stake just a month and a half later, on June 30. Wellbiotech EVC changed its name to EV Luci last year. Wellbiotech did not disclose to whom it sold Wellbiotech EVC.

The current CEO of Wellbiotech EVC (EV Luci) is Koo Se-hyun, the former CEO of Wellbiotech. Furthermore, even after June 2022, when the stake was sold, Wellbiotech continued to refer to Wellbiotech EVC as an "affiliate" or "partner." According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosures, once former CEO Koo Se-hyun stepped down from Wellbiotech in 2023, Wellbiotech EVC also disappeared from Wellbiotech's list of related companies. This suggests that Wellbiotech may have sold Wellbiotech EVC to former CEO Koo Se-hyun’s side.

Wellbiotech PDRN had been relatively proactive in its operations, including building a factory in Gimje, Jeonbuk State. During the factory completion ceremony in June 2023, Gimje Mayor Jung Sung-joo expressed his expectations, stating, "I hope Wellbiotech PDRN will make a greater leap forward from its new Gimje factory, reborn as a first-class company that grows in harmony with the local region," and added, "Gimje City will do its best to create an environment where it is easy to work and do business by continuously identifying support policies and providing various benefits."

According to a 2023 corporate introduction document for Wellbiotech PDRN obtained by Bizhankook, the company had set a revenue target of 80 billion won in five years. However, it failed to generate any notable performance. Ultimately, Wellbiotech sold Wellbiotech PDRN to 'Company J' in June 2024.

In 2023, Wellbiotech announced that it had received approval from the Zimbabwean government to export lithium ore. The plan was to send lithium ore mined in Zimbabwe to a lithium smelting plant in China for processing before supplying it domestically. However, no lithium-related revenue has been generated so far.

Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) issued a disclaimer of opinion on the audit report, citing that the substance of the lithium business could not be verified. Samil PwC stated, "We were unable to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence to judge the substance of transactions related to the acquisition of lithium ore, the validity of cash flows, and whether the parties involved were related parties."

According to the semi-annual report, 99.16% of Wellbiotech's 41.2 billion won revenue in the first half of this year—amounting to 40.2 billion won—came from its intermodal transport business. This business is handled by its subsidiary, Roadstar C&A. The EV charging station, PDRN, and lithium-related businesses pursued by Wellbiotech have failed to generate profit.

There are two interpretations regarding Wellbiotech’s moves. The first is that these are simple failures of new businesses, and the second is that the goal from the beginning was to boost the stock price through the promotion of new ventures. In particular, regarding the lithium business, links to former President Yoon Suk Yeol have also been raised.

Rep. Shin Jang-sik of the Rebuilding Korea Party claimed on the show 'Kim Ou-joon’s Humility is Hard News Factory' in August, "Former President Yoon Suk Yeol announced a plan to systematize core mineral supply chains in May 2023," and added, "(Wellbiotech) raised a lot of money two months later by claiming they received permission to export lithium ore from Zimbabwe." The argument is that the stock price rose after the announcement of the lithium ore business, and stock manipulators realized their profits in line with this timing.

Wellbiotech EVC was also used to promote the Ukraine reconstruction project. Wellbiotech stated it would participate in reconstruction by supplying Wellbiotech EVC’s EV charging stations to Ukraine. In May 2023, Wellbiotech announced, "We are reviewing international logistics support and the EV charging platform business in cooperation with the largest logistics companies in Ukraine." The Kim Keon-hee special prosecutor’s team suspects that Wellbiotech was incorporated into the Ukraine reconstruction theme and used to manipulate stock prices.

Bizhankook attempted to contact Wellbiotech by phone to get their position, but was unable to reach them.