I'm glad you brought this up because it seems to be at the heart of the SEC filing:
Do you accept the SEC's representation that Berman "stated or suggested in interviews with staff" that as of April 13 he: •knew that the company had no COVID-19 test kits; •had not seen any of DECN’s prototype COVID-19 test kits; •knew that the COVID-19 test kits would require component parts that were different from DECN’s current diabetes products, which the company did not yet have and would need before any sales could be made; ?
What would you consider "actual proof" that the company never had a working prototype?
If the SEC filing meant what you seem to take it to mean, I don't think DECN would have resumed trading and it seems like further action would have been filed against both DECN and KB alike. $WORX, for example, has not resumed trading because of further action by the SEC.
At the core of these statements lies the question: Are test strips and test kits the same thing?
When I first read this section of the SEC filing I thought as you seem to hold it, this is a slam dunk scam and the SEC will take further action. When further action was not taken and KB issued a PR the next day regarding the test that works, I had to go back and reread the section above. What does it mean?
We must take into context that the SEC filing is akin to a legal document, as it is in a "trial" before the commission against DECN, so the wording is assumed to be precise so as to be defensible.
If the SEC section were truly to mean that there was no prototype, no test strips, no testing, then I believe the SEC would already have filed further action against KB and DECN.
However, it is clear from KB's own PRs, that future test kits are not to be equated with test strips. Each test kit will be in a box with multiple test strips and an adapter as well as instructions that have been submitted to the FDA for review if I recall correctly as stated in company PRs.
Now let's examine and reread the SEC section again. The SEC did not state that neither test strips nor test kits existed nor that KB had not seen any prototypes of test strips.
as of April 13 he: •knew that the company had no COVID-19 test kits; •had not seen any of DECN’s prototype COVID-19 test kits; •knew that the COVID-19 test kits would require component parts that were different from DECN’s current diabetes products, which the company did not yet have and would need before any sales could be made;
1st point: it was public knowledge and stated in PRs that as of April 13 no test kits existed as the product was in development and was not manufactured and packaged and sitting in a warehouse ready to go.
2nd point: had not seen any of DECN's prototype COVID-19 test kits. You can't see what does not exist. The boxes had not been produced, only had a graphic design; the instructions for use had not been finalized and from later photos, it seems that the way the test strips were being tested was not via the Precise meter at that time, as most likely it would need a new display interface or chip to show COVID-19 results rather than a display showing Glucose levels, though the other design aspects were to remain intact. So, no, it's not surprising nor contradictory that the company could have tested test strips for COVID-19, but KB truthfully stated that prototypes of the "test kit" did not exist nor could be seen.
3rd point: knew that the COVID-19 test kits needed different component parts... This was stated in the company's filings of 3/31/20 for the 2019 fiscal year as well as being stated in various PRs. One of the reasons he stated that manufacturing of the test kits was not to be before September was precisely that early on, the supply lines in March and into April for THE BIO had been disrupted by the coronavirus and so when those supply chains were to begin again was uncertain. KB was straightforward and clear on this from the beginning.
Now the real question is, was the company able to acquire enough components or materials from what it already had or what it was able to attain for testing purposes even though he could not state for certain when he would be able to acquire the materials and have the components manufactured for production of the kits?
This is why I'm interested in being able to read the company's filing in response to the SEC filing to see what the company has to say in this regard. Had the SEC filing stated emphatically that the company had not tested any prototype, THE BIO had no prototype in its possession and no COVID-19 blood had been acquired from the Daegu hospital at that point, then I think DECN would still not be open for trading at this time.
The SEC's filing and arguments about "technology perfected", the display of the product on the website (which was not even accurate in the filing) and the argument about the pre-EUA letter PR were signs of stretching and latching onto anything they could to defend the Trading Order Suspension it seemed to me. They didn't need those petty arguments if in fact it was all a scam and the section you quote above meant what you have interpreted it to mean.
If DECN's filing in response to the SEC is equally weak, then something is truly amiss and scam or not, this probably never flies. But if test strips is not equal to test kits and The Bio in fact had tested prototypes and such, then the outcome may be different.
What is most concerning to me at this point is the lack of any PR regarding the stated US specialty lab testing that should have been completed and test results released by now. That is more of a red flag to me than the SEC filing and its arguments, most of which can be refuted or responded to from the Company's own PRs within the given time frame. AIMO