De facto owner of Sewol ferry denies prosecution's summons

A billionaire businessman, suspected to be the owner of the sunken Sewol ferry, has ignored a summons by the prosecution in probes into corruption allegations against his family, which have likely contributed to the lethal ferry accident.

Prosecutors in the western port city of Incheon issued the summons earlier this week for questioning Yoo Byung-eun, an ex-convict believed to be the de facto owner of Chonghaejin Marine Co., the Sewol operator, over a series of criminal violations including embezzlement, tax evasion, bribery and dereliction of duty.

The 73-year-old Yoo dismissed the notice to appear in the prosecution office by 10 AM today (0200 GMT, Friday). He is known to be staying at the headquarters of a cult that calls itself the 'Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea' in Anseong City, south of Seoul. He is a founding member of the cult.

An investigation has discovered Chonghaejin's serious safety violations were the main cause of the accident which has so far left more than 300 people, mostly teenagers, dead or missing.

Yoo's eldest son Dae-kyun has been put on the most wanted list by the investigators over the allegations, while the de facto owner's three other children have also rejected the prosecution's summonses.