Ariel
Quiros and AnC Bio:
An
Inquiry
Diane
E. Peel, M.A., R.N.
January
21, 2013
Contents
Introduction
1
Clarifications
2
Past
Quiros and Associates Enterprises
4
Technotree International
Q-Vision
GS
Intertechnology and GSI of Dade County
BHK,
Inc.
9
AnC
Bio Inc.
12
Joint Ventures and Partnerships
13
IFIS
Newheart Bio Ltd. And the Twin
Pulsatile Pump
Bioheart, Inc.
Vaxin, Inc.
Stemedica Cell Technology, Inc.
Ueda Cell Technology
Digital Products
19
Recommendations
21
References
22
1
Introduction
The
old saying goes that if something seems too good to be true, it
probably isn't true. A YouTube video produced to promote AnC Bio's
construction of a biotech plant in Newport, Vermont funded through
the EB-5 program is full of glowing promises of amazing research and
products which will be produced there. AnC Bio representatives Ariel
Quiros and William Kelly describe the company's research to use adult
stem cells to treat disease and to create new vaccines, and plans to
manufacture state-of-the-art kidney dialysis and heart/lung machines,
all accompanied by exciting computer generated graphics. Specific
statements from Mr. Kelly include the following: “We
believed back in 1999, 1998, that we could undertake a process and
that process was that we could take adult stem cells and research
their ability to cure heart disease.”; “And more recently, let's
expand our unique knowledge of adult stem cells to create therapies
to improve vaccines against diseases.”; “We manufacture
state-of-the-art kidney dialysis machines, heart/lung machines and a
number of heart and organ assistive devices.”; “And finally, AnC
Bio manufactures a wide variety of electronic components.” (1).
This
report will inquire into these subjects in detail. All information
contained herein has been obtained from publicly available
information on the internet. The internet is a particularly rich
source of business information, given that companies are eager to
tell the world about their products and attract customers. Other
companies are equally eager
2
to
help them with this goal, resulting in a large number of business
databases. In this situation absence of information can be
significant.
This
research has revealed several disconcerting pieces of information
regarding Ariel Quiros, William Kelly and other associates: 1) a
large number of companies opened with Mr. Quiros as principle officer
all at the same address in Miami, 2) a consumer complaint by a
purchaser of a product from one of these companies, Qvision, that he
allegedly was defrauded out of over $15,000, 3) a lawsuit currently
proceeding in Texas between Mr. Quiros, Mr. Kelly, their company
Technotree USA and two wealthy Fort Worth individuals who claim that
they are owed a refund of their combined investment of $260,000 in
the company when it yielded no return after 10 years, and 4) Mr.
Quiros and Jong Weon (Alex) Choi's default on a business agreement
with Bioheart Inc. for an investment of $4 million from AnC Bio. In
addition there appears to be some misrepresentation by AnC Bio of the
history of their company and the products it produces. Some of this
may be due to confusion on the part of the press. This report will
attempt to clear up any confusion.
Clarifications
Ariel
Quiros has been referred to in the press as “President of AnC Bio
Holdings USA” (2) and on Forbes as “President of US operations of
AnC Bio Holdings, a publicly listed company on the Korea Stock
Exchange” (3). AnC Bio Holdings Inc, which has since been renamed
Seoul Sports Ltd., is a company primarily involved in magazine
3
publishing and construction (4). AnC Bio Inc. was until
November 2011 a subsidiary of AnC Bio Holdings Inc, when the latter
company sold all but 18.28% stake in AnC Bio Inc. (5) AnC Bio Inc is
not listed on KOSDAQ. Ik Wan Lee, President of AnC Bio Inc., once
served as Co-CEO of AnC Bio Holdings, Inc. but resigned in October of
2011.(6) Ariel Quiros' connection to AnC Bio is that he is
brother-in-law to Jong Weon Choi, CEO of Anc Bio Inc. In Asian
business practice, personal connections carry much significance.
However, Mr. Quiros is not listed among management of AnC Bio Inc.
Mr. Quiros is also sometimes described as a director at Bioheart
Inc., an American company, a position he held for four months in 2011
until the contract with Bioheart Inc. was breached.(7) Bioheart Inc.
is not to be confused with Bioheart Florida LLC, a company of which
Quiros is the only officer. Mr. Quiros is also “President and
Chief Executive Officer” of GSI of Dade County Inc., described as
an import company, about which much will be said later. All told, Mr.
Quiros is listed as an officer of approximately 27 companies, with
various combinations of other people including William Kelly and Jong
Weon Choi. (8)
Given
that a few of these companies were formed recently in relationship to
the purchase of Jay Peak and Burke Mtn, Vermont, it is likely that
others of these companies represent the remnants of past business
dealings in a variety of areas. Some of these are traceable.
4
Past
Quiros and Associates' Enterprises
Technotree
(Techno Tree) International LLC
Ariel
Quiros registered three companies of similar name in Florida in 1998
and 1999, Techno Map USA Corp., Technotree International LLC and
Technology Tree USA Inc. Kelly and Choi were associated with him in
two of these companies. These companies may be related to trademarks
for “Techno Braille” and “Techno Print” which were filed in
1998 by Ariel Quiros (now canceled) (9) described as products useful
for computer and software services. There are websites for a Japanese
computer services company established in 1996 (Technotree Co, Ltd)
and a telecommunications company (Tecnotree Corporation) neither of
which has any obvious relationship to the Florida companies. A visit
to the website listed for Techno Tree USA (technotreeusa.com) reveals
a Japanese blogger discussing upcoming restaurant wedding plans,
rather hilariously translated by Google.
In an ongoing lawsuit between Donald Siratt, a
wealthy Fort Worth philanthropist and Phillip Hinson, a Fort Worth
dentist, and William J. Kelly, Ariel Quiros and Techno Tree
International LLC, Siratt and Hinson allege that each invested
$130,000 in Techno Tree International in 1999 after Kelly personally
guaranteed that the investors “would receive a complete refund of
their investments after the end of ten years if they had not already
received back the amount of their investments prior to that time from
dividends
5
or distributions.”, which apparently they have not.
After an opinion in favor of Siratt and Hinson when Quiros et al.
seemingly failed to follow correct court procedures, the case has
been returned to the original court on appeal (November 21, 2012) to
consider a motion of arbitration. In the dissenting opinion an
exasperated counsel for Mr. Kelly is quoted as saying that “we have
told him what he needs to do and he just simply doesn't do it”,
Kelly having failed to appear or submit proper paperwork according to
the lawyer.(10)
Qvision
LLC
Qvision is one of a
number of Quiros' companies beginning with the letter Q. Related to
Qvision are Qvision Media Group LLC, Q Vision Incorporated and Qball
LLC. Qvision was formed to produce the QReflective Mirror, a product
in which an advertising image appears in a mirror when triggered by a
motion sensor. It may be related to a patent for such a device which
was filed in April of 2005 by Jong Weon Choi(11). Several
advertising mirrors of this type are currently on the market, none
called Qreflective Mirror, and none produced by a company called
Qvision. The Qball was a sports ball which supposedly would have the
same features, though it is hard to imagine how this would work.
Partners with Ariel Quiros in these endeavors were William Kelly,
Howard Anders and Alan Amdur. Qvision websites suggest that there
were supposed to be branches of the company worldwide. There is a
website for Qvision
6
Middle East and Qvision (UK) Ltd. The latter has a
business address of a house in Scotland and lists as directors
Shirley McGee and Neil Fraser. Qvision (UK) Ltd. appears not to be
in very good shape, having had no annual returns since 2007, with a
“dissolution notice” published in 2011, followed by “Letter to
Strike Company from Register Suspended” both red-flagged by a
British business information service (12). No information is
available about Qvision Middle East.
In
an e-mail published on two scam report sites, a Miami business person
details allegations about how in early 2006 he ordered 30 custom
units from Qvision represented by Mr. Anders and Mr. Amdur and wrote
them a check for $15,500, which was cashed at HSBC-Brooklyn (the
British bank recently in the news for its involvement in a massive
money laundering scandal ). When the items failed to arrive, he was
given repeated excuses by Mr. Anders, and then finally was unable to
locate him, eventually having to hire someone to do so. After
informing Mr. Anders (and possibly Mr. Quiros, this is unclear) that
he had contacted the Florida attorney general's office and had
discovered the large number of companies in Mr. Quiros' name, the
complainant was informed that the company had closed down. He never
received the product or his money back. (13)
GSI
of Dade County Inc.
GSI
of Dade County is a Florida company of which Ariel Quiros and Henry
Pedroso are listed as officers. Mr. Pedroso is a Florida realtor who
describes himself on his
7
resume as General Manager/Director of GSI of Dade
County Inc. from 2001 to 2004 functioning as a “key player for
strategic trading window between US and S Korea”. He now works for
Coldwell Banker.(14)
GSI of Dade County is described as an import firm
importing products for GS Intertechnology of Korea. Forbes also lists
Quiros as “director and principal of GSI Group, a raw materials
procurement company”.(15) GS Intertechnology (or Inter Technology)
is visible on the internet only as an “unverified member” on the
massive trade site Alibaba, where it is said that they operate
several manufacturing companies in Korea producing electronics,
computers and peripherals and home monitoring systems and are an
importer of raw materials to Korea. Inquiries are to be directed via
e-mail to Mr. Soomin Lee. The Seoul office address is the same as
that for the Jong Weon Choi company BHK, Inc.(discussed below). (16)
Alibaba lists no products produced by GS Intertechnology. GSI of
Dade County is listed on a number of business database websites,
where it is variously described as importing digital photo paper,
printer supplies, computer hardware and peripherals, electronics,
cookware, medical and surgical supplies, commercial cooking
equipment, wholesale men's clothing, medicines and health products,
swimwear and a host of other clothing including folkloric clothing.
In fact most of these products can be found on the internet under the
initials “GSI” as worldwide there are over 1700 companies
including these initials. Gsi Corp is a manufacturer of electronic
equipment and supplies (and may have also sold digital photo
8
paper, the product “Gsi Digital Photo Paper” is no
longer available) established in 1962 and located in Timonium, MD.
A company called GSI Outdoors, a family run business in Spokane, WA
sells outdoor equipment and cookware. GSI Technology in California
produces computer memory products. GSI Inc. sells on Amazon.com and
through Sears.com and imports a wide variety of goods. This company
is Global Sound Inc. in Brooklyn, NY. GSI Creos is a Japanese mega
import-export company established in 1931 as a silk textile trading
firm (the name was changed to GSI Creos in 2001) with many branches
throughout the world, including in Korea, though not at the same
address as GS Intertechnology. In Korea, Daewon GSI Company Ltd.
makes agricultural equipment, GS Instruments makes lasers, and GSI
Ltd. makes guardrails and other road safety products.
Apparently only one company website is linked to
Quiros, Choi, GSI of Dade County and GS Intertechnology, and that
is GSI Corporation Ltd., described as involved in ducting technology,
with its office in Scotland. The company is run by the same two
individuals listed as officers for Qvision (UK) Ltd., Shirley McGee
and Neil Fraser. (17) According to a British business information
service, GSI Corporation Ltd. issued a “dissolution notice” in
December 2010.(18). Ms. McGee and Mr. Fraser are now running a
company called “Pet Health Solutions Ltd.” at the same address.
Import Genius is a website which provides
information on thousands of import-export companies gleaned from
public customs records. They have only one record regarding
9
GSI of Dade County, a shipment from GS Intertechnology
in April of 2006. The cargo was “QReflection Display Active
Screen” (19).
BHK
Inc.
The
AnC Bio story begins with another company, BHK Inc. which stood for
Bioheart Korea. An earlier photo of the impressive AnC Bio building
in Seoul shows it bearing the logo BHK. According to an unrelated
lawsuit between Peter Law PhD. and Bioheart Inc, a Florida adult stem
cell research company, in 2006 Bioheart Inc. entered an endeavor
with BHK Inc. (Bioheart Korea), BHM Inc. (Bioheart Manufacturing
Inc.) and Ariel Quiros' Bioheart Florida LLC. Bioheart Inc. received
stock in BHM and in return BHM would supply “certain
technologies” and train Korean laborers in tasks related to stem
cell therapy. Bioheart was careful in this agreement to protect its
intellectual property regarding its use of stem cells in treating
heart disease, including requiring employees at the facility to sign
an agreement to protect its trade secrets.(20) Officers and
directors in BHK Inc. and BHM Inc. (its subsidiary) included Jong
Weon Choi, Chairman and CEO, Ik Wan Lee PhD (variously spelled in
English Ike Huan or Hwan) of AnC Bio Inc. and Byung Goo Min PhD. Mr.
Lee has a degree in molecular biology and had worked at or was an
officer at other stem cell firms. Until 2011 he was also Co-CEO of
AnC Bio Holdings Inc. (21) Byung Goo Min has a doctorate in
engineering and brought with him to the company patents for various
parts of a “twin pulsatile pump” system potentially useful in
heart/lung and kidney dialysis machines developed by a
10
company called Newheart Bio.(22) Mr. Choi has a degree
in business. Bioheart's agreement with BHM was that they would use
BHM as their exclusive provider of cell culturing services for
“procedures” (probably referring to clinical trials as no product
had been, nor has yet been produced for sale) in various countries in
Asia. Bioheart reported an 18% equity interest in BHM, according to
forms files with the SEC for 2008 (23). Between 2006 and 2008, and
undoubtedly in anticipation of working with Bioheart Inc., BHK Inc.
built an impressive $120 million stem cell facility in Seoul. Videos
advertising the facility (now bearing the logo AnC Bio) have been
posted on YouTube by Mr. Choi.
In March 2008, with Choi as Chairman and CEO, BHK
Inc., listed on KOSDAQ, was admitted to the Alternative Investment
Market of the London Stock Exchange, introducing two million Global
Depository Receipts to the exchange. (24). It is curious that the
description of Choi's business positions at the time include
Technology Tree USA, the Teddy Bear Foundation of Florida Inc.
(correctly, Q-Teddy Bear Foundation of Florida, another Quiros
company) and Korea Islet Transplantation Institute Inc. but makes no
mention of AnC Bio Inc. (25) In August of 2008 Bloomberg's reported
the abrupt resignation of Jong Weon Choi, Ik Wan Lee, Byung Goo Min
and the other officers and directors of BHK Inc. and their
replacement by an entirely new set of officers and directors. In a
long statement, the notice is careful to report that none of the new
individuals has previously been involved in a variety of types of
wrongdoing.
11
Trading in the company's GDRs was suspended at this
time.(26). In August 2010, The Bank of New York Mellon posted the
following notice: “Further to our termination notice dated April 5,
2010, we have notified owners and beneficial owners of the Global
Depository Receipts...that the Bank of New York Mellon...terminated
the deposit agreement between BHK Inc., the Bank of New York Mellon,
as Depository, and the Owners of GDRs... The Bank of New York Mellon
has received information from the Korea Securities Depository stating
that the National Tax Service of the Republic of Korea confirmed that
BHK Inc. has been “closed” for business. In addition BHK Inc. was
also delisted from KOSDAQ on April 30, 2009 according to the Korea
Exchange. As a result the shares of BHK Inc. are no longer trading
and are not [sic] longer transferable. BNY Mellon has received no
indication that any payment for these shares will occur.” (27)
Bioheart's 2010 SEC Form 10-K filing vaguely states that AnC Bio Inc.
was “given” BHM's business when the company was reorganized.
(28)
While all this was occurring in Asia, Bill Stenger,
who had become friends with Ariel Quiros, Mr. Choi's brother-in-law,
began looking in South Korea for EB-5 investors.
According to americanregionalcenter.com (no longer
accessible on the internet): “While prospecting for EB-5 investors
in South Korea three years ago [about 2006] he met the owner of
Bioheart Korea (BHK), a company that manufactures innovative medical
devices such as dialysis machine [sic] that's no larger than a
briefcase. Bioheart's boss, Alex Choi, wasn't interested in investing
in Jay Peak but was much intrigued with the
12
prospect of opening a manufacturing plant in the US,
Stenger says. Talks have progressed to the point where Stenger thinks
it is likely that BHK will build a facility somewhere in Orleans
County. Governor James Douglas is making South Korea the first stop
on an investment-inducement tour of Asia that he is scheduled to make
in October [2009], Stenger notes. Douglas plans to visit the BHK
plant and make a personal pitch to Choi on behalf of the state.”
(29)
When Douglas got to South Korea, Choi may not have
required too much arm twisting, having just left BHK Inc. with the
company in disarray and with a very expensive biotech facility on his
hands. The governor gave his blessing to a partnership between
Stenger and AnC Bio Inc., another Choi company, whose other managers
include Ik Wan Lee and Byung Goo Min both formerly of BHK Inc. AnC
Bio Inc. was still at this time a subsidiary of AnC Bio Holdings
Inc., which must have made it look like a good prospect. Stenger
and Quiros (now a majority owner of Jay Peak) formed AnC Bio VT LLC
as an EB-5 Regional Center Project, with plans to build a clone of
the Korean facility in Newport, Vermont. (30)
AnC
Bio Inc.
A
promotional statement for GSI Corporation Ltd. has this to say about
the history of GSI (this after having praised the “vision and
entrepreneurial genius of Mr. Alex Choi.....and Mr. Ariel I.
Quiros”): “The company faced a more challenging period in the
latter part of the Nineties as a result of the Asian economic
crisis....As a result of this
13
situation,
GSI developed yet another business strategy and skill upon which to
build as it entered the 21st
century; the art of partnering.”
This certainly seems to have been true of AnC Bio Inc.
Joint
Ventures and Partnerships
IFIS
IFIS
(International Financial Intermediary Services) is a company
established in 2006 involved in the coal mining and coal import
business from Indonesia (according to their advertisements on trade
sites) and financial services, energy and other resources and IT
services according to their website. CEO and Chairman Chang Soon
Kang (also spelled Chang Sun Gang) served as a director at AnC Bio
Holdings Inc. and Jong Weon Choi of AnC Bio Inc. is a director at
IFIS. Mr. Kang is a former director of the Korea Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy and Counselor for Commercial Affairs at
the Korean Embassy in the Republic of Indonesia as well as having
held other government posts, according to the website. (31)This
connection between Mr. Choi and Mr. Kang may explain the “raw
materials procurement” references in some of Choi's and Quiros'
promotional material.
Newheart Bio Ltd. And Twin Pulsatile Pump
Technology
Beginning in 2001, a group of nine researchers
(not including Choi, Lee or Quiros) headed by Byung Goo Min PhD filed
for a series of Korean patents under the company
14
name Newheart Bio Ltd. An American patent for a
“Cardiopulmonary Life Support System” which used a new pulsatile
pump which aimed to reduce risk of blood clotting was filed in 2002.
Similar patents were filed in other countries by Newheart Bio Ltd.
Between 2007 and 2011, several hemodialysis-related patents were
filed by Choi, Min and others.(32) The pump has applications for
both hemodialysis and cardiopulmonary life support. In 2008, Mr. Min
and others described a “Carry On Pulse Artificial Kidney” or
C-PAK at a research conference.(33) In 2009, Bioheart Inc. was
involved in a joint venture with AnC Bio to produce percutaneously
inserted pulsatile pumps of this type (known as the Twin Pulsatile
Life Support System, or T-PLS). Some of these pumps were produced and
sent to Italy for clinical trials with patients. No further
information is available about the outcome of the trials. (34)
Researchers at Korean universities are continuing to to do research
on the T-PLS in treating heart disease. Meanwhile, research by Min
and others continues on the use of the pulse pump in hemodialysis and
some of this research is being supported by AnC Bio Inc.(35) The
C-PAK is described as both a portable hemodialysis machine and one
which uses the pulsatile pump technology. A January 2012 review of
the home hemodialysis industry by Dr. John Agar (Director of Renal
Services, Geelong Hospital, Geelong, Victoria, Australia and expert
in home dialysis), says: “ The South Koreans have a seemingly nice
system, still, as I understand it, in R&D-the C-PAK which I have
seen but beyond that I don't know where it's “at” in development
or if it has progressed. There is a
15
YouTube promo out on the C-PAK-the origins of which I do
not know-but there isn't substantive available data on it and I am
not aware of the origins (or veracity) of the YouTube clip. I would
take it with caution.” (36) The video, which is entirely animated,
was posted by Choi in 2011 and in various parts says BHK or AnC Bio
is the maker of the device.
Bioheart Inc.
Bioheart Inc. is an adult stem cell company
located in Sunrise, Florida and founded in 1999 by “serial
entrepreneur” Howard Leonhardt. Bioheart Inc. is working on a
procedure where adult stem cells are cultured from the fat cells of a
patient suffering from congestive heart failure which are then
injected into the patient's heart to grow new heart tissue. In a
January 2011 an agreement with AnC Bio Inc. (then described as an
investment company and still a subsidiary of AnC Bio Holdings Inc.),
AnC Bio was to invest $4 million in the company. Ariel Quiros was
given a directorship at this time. In April of 2011, after having
made an initial payment of $400,000 and unable to complete the rest
of the contract, AnC Bio defaulted and Mr. Quiros was asked to leave
the directorship.(37) Bioheart Inc. has not publicized any further
relationship with AnC Bio Inc. Bioheart, Inc.'s SEC Forms 10-K for
fiscal year 2011 and 10-Q for quarter ending September 30, 2012 make
no mention of BHK Inc., BHM Inc., AnC Bio Inc. or Korea except that
Ariel Quiros, AnC Bio and Bioheart
16
Florida LLC own 6.9% of Bioheart Inc. common stock.
According to the annual report, Bioheart Inc. is a developmental
stage company, several other and larger companies are developing
similar technologies and the company has accumulated a deficit of
over $111 million.(38)
Vaxin Inc.
Vaxin Inc. is a Birmingham Alabama firm working on
the development of inhaled vaccines. In October of 2009, Vaxin
announced a joint venture with AnC Bio Holdings Inc. to manufacture
and commercialize Vaxin's vaccines overseas and AnC Bio made a $3
million investment in Vaxin. (39) In February 2010, Ik Wan Lee, then
Co-CEO of AnC Bio Holdings Inc., was appointed to the board of
directors. AnC Bio's role will be to manufacture vaccines for
marketing in Asia. Vaxin's technology was developed by De-chu C.
Tang, Vaxin's scientific founder and involves inserting a portion of
an antigen into a “benign delivery vehicle”, which is then
inhaled or otherwise absorbed without injection.(40) In June 2012,
Vaxin received a grant to continue work on its nasally administered
anthrax vaccine which would greatly boost vaccine coverage in the
event of a bioterrorist attack.(41) In July of 2012, Brigadier
General (Ret.) Klaus Shafer was appointed to the Board of
Directors.(42)
Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc.
Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc. is a company
in San Diego, California that 17
manufactures adult stem cells for the treatment of
various diseases. Given that there is only one FDA approved use for
stem cells (cord blood for certain specified indications), these
treatments will necessarily be only in clinical trials, at least in
this country. In October 2010, Anc Bio Inc. formed a joint venture
with Stemedica International S.A., a subsidiary of Stemedica Cell
Technologies, for the treatment of “ischemic stroke and other
diseases.” (43)Stemedica was founded by American brothers Roger and
Maynard Howe, both PhDs and Russian MD Nilolai Tankovich, reportedly
after the Americans' sister suffered paraplegia from a car accident
and then achieved a partial recovery after receiving stem cell
injections in Moscow. A year later the team opened a network of
international treatment centers in foreign countries purporting to
treat diseases for which there would otherwise be little hope and for
which there is little proven scientific rationale.(44) In a 2009
Science article, the journal warned “Companies such as Medra,
Stemedica...,Stem Cell Biotherapy.... and Regenocyte have taken
advantage of the resulting confusion and have occupied the current
regulatory vacuum. For example, Stem Cell Biotherapy and Regenocyte
advertise procedures unavailable in the United States and then
arrange for patients to be sent to affiliated hospitals in other
parts of the world.”(45) This is referred to as “stem cell
tourism”. A 2007 letter published by WikiLeaks apparently sent to
the Government of Bermuda by Art Tucker MD, chairman of a National
Research Ethics Committee in Britain, details his concerns over the
establishment of a stem cell laboratory and treatment center in
Bermuda by Stemedica
18
Cell Technologies. Dr. Tucker views with alarm the plan
to eventually treat patients at the center, noting his inability to
find peer reviewed scientific research by the Stemedica
researchers.(46) RNL Bio Inc., another Korean biotech company, is
under investigation following the deaths of two patients after having
received injections of stem cells produced by the firm that had been
shipped to Japan and China (injection of stem cells for treatment of
diseases is also unapproved in Korea).(47) And finally, the FDA has
issued a consumer warning about stem cell treatments. (48)
Ueda Cell Technology, Inc.
This is a Japanese company which uses adult
stem cells for cosmetic applications and the prevention of aging.
AnC Bio formed a joint venture with this company somewhere around
2009. Ueda Cell Technology doesn't maintain a website in English.
Recently even the Japanese website was taken down and replaced with
one which appears to be under construction, or is not accessible.
Fortunately Google Translate provided a sense of the subject matter
of the old site, if not a precise understanding. The Ueda website
referred to “Ultimate cosmetic surgery using autologous cell” and
stated that Professor Ueda is world famous for “Ueda skin
regeneration.” The site also described treatment using a “collagen
mask” derived from the patients own cells, thus it claimed,
preventing rejection (In the photo the mask is clearly applied over
the skin, so rejection wouldn't be an issue.) (49) The website also
stated that the joint venture with
19
AnC Bio Holdings will continue to expand sales of
cosmetic products and specifically referred to the EB-5 project in
Vermont, where there will apparently be the “right product sales”,
concluding with ( in Google translation), “We have the global
expansion.”.(50)
If there are concerns about the scientific
validity of the use of adult stem cells for treatment of diseases, it
is even more so for the use of stem cells in cosmetics. Two prominent
plastic surgery societies have issued a joint statement on cosmetic
stem cell therapies, saying that the devices that separate stem
cells from regular cells are not FDA approved for use in cosmetic
applications and that there is a lack of scientific evidence to
support claims of stem cell facelifts and breast enhancements. The
statement also noted that fat transfers that also naturally include
some stem cells are not stem cell treatments but standard fat
grafts.(51)
Digital Products
AnC Bio Inc. also produces a wide variety of
digital products, according to Mr. Kelly in a promotional video.
Unfortunately, GobizKorea.com, a business matching service for small
and medium businesses that calls itself “the best way to access
reliable Korean partners” does not list AnC Bio Inc. The huge
wholesale global trade site Alibaba.com has over 2 million suppliers
of almost any type of goods imaginable. On this site AnC Bio is
registered as an “Unverified Member” and has only one product for
20
sale, the Pacemaker Portable DJ System.(52) The same
is true for for ec21, animport/export site with 5 million buyers and
suppliers, where Anc Bio is described as a contract manufacturer
working on an OEM basis, that is, making custom items. Incidentally,
the ad also says that AnC Bio was established in 2006. (53)
The Pacemaker Pocket Size DJ System was a product of
the Swedish company Tonium. It was very popular among a group of fans
but unfortunately due to poor sales the product line was discontinued
in 2010. The device and name were licensed to Blackberry as an app in
2012.(54) Only single or used devices are now available on the
retail market. The administrator of a Facebook page maintained for
fans of the Pacemaker was contacted to determine if the product
offered on Alibaba was the same device. The individual's response
was, “looks like it”. When asked how it was that the AnC Bio
company could be supplying up to 100 boxes per month, as advertised,
the administrator replied that the product was originally produced in
Korea and that the company might be selling “overstock”. (55) On
Amazon.com, a used device sells for about $325. The sales person, Mr.
Woon Young Lee, was not contacted, so it is unknown how much the
company is selling them for by the box.
BHK Inc. advertises the Pacemaker on the Asian trade
site HKTDC, along with a media player called the I-Buddy (not to be
confused with two other widely advertised but very different
products by the same name) and the Visay Vision Portable Stadium
Monitor, about which no information appears to be available elsewhere
on the net. (56)
21
Recommendations
It
is suggested that Ariel Quiros, Jong Weon Choi and other relevant
individuals should be asked to discuss and explain the following
issues before being entrusted with further involvement in the future
of Newport and especially before being entrusted with further funds
via the EB-5 program:
- Have they been involved in any previous ventures which resulted in loss by investors?
- Do they have any corrections to make regarding their description of their credentials, their business and their products?
- Can they provide verifiable proof of previous business successes?
- Aside from the EB-5 program, will they detail the sources of funding of their investments in Vermont projects?
- Will they provide a precise description of biological products which they intend to produce at the AnC Bio plant in Newport?
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