LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori said yesterday a report linking her and a senior aide to money laundering was “dirty” politics and an attempt to smear her three weeks before a closely-fought election.
The report broadcast on America Television on Sunday night featured comments from a man who was identified as a pilot and informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who said the agency was investigating audio he recorded in 2013.
In the audio, he said, the secretary general of Fujimori’s Fuerza Popular party, Joaquin Ramirez, stated he had laundered $15 million for her during a previous political campaign.
The report said it had verified with the DEA that the agency was investigating Ramirez.
The US anti-drugs agency said in a short statement yesterday “Keiko Fujimori is not currently, nor has been previously, under investigation by DEA.” The DEA declined to confirm or deny any further allegations contained in the television report.
Fujimori said she would ask the US agency about the report but categorically denied she had given money to Ramirez.
“Of course we will formally ask the DEA’s opinion, if there really is such an investigation,” Fujimori told local TV in Cusco, where she was campaigning ahead of the June 5 vote.
“I have to be suspicious about this accusation…I think it’s part of a dirty war.”
Property businessman Ramirez also denied the allegations, saying that he had met the supposed informant some years ago over a failed plane purchase deal.
“It is being used politically to damage Keiko Fujimori’s campaign,” he told America Television in a telephone interview following the Sunday night report.
Neither Fujimori nor Ramirez were immediately available for further comment.
