Samsung BioLogics inflated its value by US$4B before IPO — then destroyed evidence

Samsung BioLogics, the biopharmaceutical arm of Samsung Group, went public in 2016 with a market value built on an accounting classification it had changed the year before. In 2015 it reclassified Samsung Bioepis — a joint venture with Biogen — from a subsidiary to an affiliate, which allowed it to book the venture's value as a gain rather than consolidating its losses. The manoeuvre inflated the company's worth by 4.5 trillion won (approximately US$4 billion).

On 14 November 2018, South Korea's Securities and Futures Commission ruled that the accounting change was intentional fraud. The regulator fined Samsung BioLogics 8 billion won, recommended the dismissal of its executives, and suspended trading in its shares. The company filed an administrative suit to contest the ruling.

The scandal deepened when prosecutors found that three Samsung executives had destroyed evidence during the investigation. They were jailed in January 2020. Samsung BioLogics continued to dispute the findings through the courts.

In 2025 the Seoul Administrative Court overturned the sanctions, revoking the fine and the dismissal recommendations. The court acknowledged that the accounting was improper but ruled that the regulator had not followed proper procedure. The reversal did not change what the company had done.