Prosecutors have summoned former President Roh Moo-hyun's wife for questioning over a widening bribery scandal involving one of Roh's financial supporters, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.
Kwon Yang-sook was called in Saturday over a graft case surrounding Park Yeon-cha, a businessman who owns a shoe-making company. Former President Roh said last week that his wife had accepted money from Park in 2007 to repay a debt.
The prosecution also called in Roh's only son Geon-ho Sunday for questioning. The junior Roh returned from the United States late Saturday night to face a prosecution probe over the graft case. He had been staying in the U.S. as an employee of LG Electronics.
The businessman is accused of transferring $5 million from his account in Hong Kong to Yeon Chul-ho, the husband of one of Roh's nieces. Prosecutors suspect the money was delivered to the ex-president months before his five-year term ended in February 2008.
Prosecutors said the president's son will undergo questioning over whether he was involved in the case, but added he faces no criminal charges at present.
The former president's son will be questioned over whether he used any of $1 million during his stay in the U.S., which Park had confessed to delivering to the Roh family while the president was still in office, according to prosecutors.
Shortly before summoning the junior Roh, prosecutors released Yeon after two days of grilling. Yeon admitted to having received the money from Park when he visited Park's Vietnamese factory, but said it was a legitimate investment in his start-up company, prosecutors said.
Prosecution investigators summoned Yeon and searched his house south of Seoul Friday.
A national lawmaker and two former provincial government officials, all supporters of the ex-president, have been arrested on charges of receiving large amounts of cash in illegal funds from the businessman who is behind bars.
With the prosecution delving into the case, the former president admitted last week that his wife, not he, had received an unspecified amount of money from the businessman.
Roh and his wife are expected to be summoned by prosecutors as early as this week.