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Keiko Fujimori to be interviewed for money laundering probe in Peru

Xinhua, February 23, 2017 Adjust font size:

Former Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori will accept an order by the Public Ministry to be interviewed by investigators looking into an alleged money laundering operation, a party spokesperson of her party said on Wednesday.

Luis Galarreta, spokesperson of Fujimori's Popular Force (FP) party, said while Fujimori will cooperate with the inquiry, she denies any involvement in the money laundering accusations involving Joaquin Ramirez, a former FP congressman.

The decision to interview Fujimori by investigators was based on an audio recording in which Ramirez stated he received 15 million U.S. dollars from the FP leader to be "laundered" through a chain of petrol stations.

But Galarreta said the investigation against Fujimori is a political maneuver aiming to distract public opinion away from a bribery scandal involving payments by Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht, to Peru's senior politicians.

The investigation into Ramirez began in 2014, with judicial authorities suspecting the money was used to fund Fujimori's presidential campaign and that several properties in Ramirez's name really belong to Fujimori's family.

Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for graft and human rights abuses. She lost the presidential election in June 2016. Endit