From the way some politicians in the US talk, you couldn’t picture them touching a dish of stem cells with a ten-foot pole. But attitudes seem different elsewhere. The Korean health ministry is reportedly looking into allegations that the Seoul-based firm RNL Bio provided free stem cell treatments to politicians and celebrities in return for promises of eased regulations on stem cell therapies. (Stem cell treatments are illegal in Korea.)

Of more immediate concern to the company may be the fact that the International Cellular Medicine Society — the association of doctors that has established itself as a stem cell clinic watchdog alongside the more academically-inclined International Society for Stem Cell Research — launched an investigation into RNL Bio earlier this month. The action comes in response to reports that two people died after they received stem cell injections from RNL as anti-aging treatments.

According to the Korea Times, Ra Jeong-chan, RNL’s chief executive, denied accusations of wrongdoing by the company, blaming one of the deaths on the patient’s state of fatigue and the other on improper administration of anesthesia.

Beyond its borders, RNL Bio also seems to be gaining a foothold in the US. According to the LA Business Journal, the company, which has attracted around 120 customers from the US, maintains an office in Los Angeles’ Koreatown and a processing plant in Maryland.