S. Korean probes Samsung Group

SEOUL, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in South Korea issued a summons to the executive director of Samsung Electronics Co. Lee Jae-yong Thursday as part of a wide-ranging investigation.

Prosecutors are looking into the 1995 transfer of the Everland amusement park to Jae-yong and two of his sisters from Samsung Group, which is run by Jae-yong's father Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Lee and his sisters took over the park for a tenth of its market value, prosecutors say.

The Yonhap news agency reported the inquiry is part of a broad investigation that includes bribes to numerous public officials and manipulations of slush funds and accounting fraud.

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has also been implicated in the probe, as staff officials have been accused of accepting "congratulatory money" from Samsung after his election victory in 2002.

"I will sincerely respond to the questions," Lee said in response to the summons.