Separate Transactions and Approval? Transcripts Reveal "Money Should Have Been Returned"

[Anchor]

The CEO of Genencell has claimed that securing an 11.3 billion won investment had nothing to do with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approval process, which Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won allegedly intervened in. However, transcripts from that time indicate that the individuals involved in the case perceived the Ministry's approval as directly tied to the investment.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Regarding the 11.3 billion won transaction made between Genencell and Sejong Medical on October 19, 2021, Genencell founder Kang Se-chan has claimed that the investment was based on Genencell's potential value and was entirely "separate" from the IND, or the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's clinical trial plan approval.

[Kang Se-chan / Founder of Genencell: (First met with Sejong Medical in) July 2021, reviewed documents starting in August, and evaluated corporate value for investment in September. The investment happened because the evaluation went well, not because of this single IND (clinical trial plan) approval stage.]

However, surrounding the October 19 transaction, different circumstances emerge from transcripts of conversations between businessman Yang, whom Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won identified as a "close junior," and founder Kang himself.

According to the prosecution's indictment and a phone call transcript released by independent lawmaker Handong, Kang made a request to Yang over the phone on October 6, thirteen days before the transaction, asking him to "get the approval expedited through political figures since the investment was agreed upon under the condition of clinical approval."

The very next day, on the 7th, Yang told nominee Kim in a phone call, "An investment of 30 billion won has also been secured. So the money is scheduled to come in on October 15."

Subsequently, on the 8th, Kang reportedly sent a text message to Yang saying, "Approval must be granted before the 19th," which was the contract date for Genencell shares and convertible bonds, and "Please ask them to grant approval sometime that week."

According to a transcript of a phone conversation between Yang and an acquaintance on November 26 of the same year—following the multi-billion won transaction and the Ministry's approval—Yang made the following remarks:

[Businessman Yang: I told (Kang Se-chan), 'You should also show some courtesy to Oppa Seung-won.' And then the approval dropped right the next day. If the approval hadn't dropped the next day, Professor (Kang Se-chan) would have had to spit back the money, 6.7 billion.]

[Yang's Acquaintance: That means they did something massive.]

Contrary to Kang's claims, analyses are being raised that the "Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approval issue," in which nominee Kim also appears, was the core link in the "transactions surrounding Genencell."

(Video reporting: Lee Chan-soo, Video editing: So Ji-hye, Design: Kim Min-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.