Deposed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori on Sunday denied allegations that he has had $18 million in secret funds remitted to Japanese bank accounts.
"I do not hold any bank accounts abroad, in Japan or anywhere else. All the allegations are wrong," he told Kyodo News at the home of a Japanese friend in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Fujimori said the allegations have been made to divert the attention from wealth amassed illegally by former Peruvian intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos, who was a close aide to Fujimori.
Fujimori added that the allegations against him are a "political plot" by the Peruvian media under the influence of Montesinos. He said he will stay in Japan "for the time being," although he did not elaborate.
The former president said he has not decided whether to run in the Peruvian congressional election in April 2001.
Jose Ugaz Sanchez-Moreno, a special investigator appointed by the Peruvian government, said Friday the Singapore units of two Panamanian companies remitted a total of $18 million to accounts held in Fujimori's name with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Sanwa Bank and Shinwa Bank.
The special investigator said he has asked Attorney General Nelly Calderon to investigate Fujimori for graft and money laundering, as well as for the alleged remittances.
Fujimori announced his resignation Monday from Tokyo, but Congress refused to accept his resignation and dismissed him Tuesday. He arrived in Japan on an unscheduled visit Nov. 17 after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Brunei. His whereabouts since checking out of a Tokyo hotel on Wednesday had been unknown until the Kyodo interview.
A Japanese-Peruvian whose parents emigrated to Peru from Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture, Fujimori has asked the Japanese government for permission to remain in Japan.