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Peru seeks access to Fujimori's bank informationNewspaper alleges ex-president stole donations
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- A high court judge has asked Japan to provide Peruvian prosecutors with access to private information about bank accounts belonging to former President Alberto Fujimori, who lives in Tokyo, officials said Tuesday. Supreme Court Justice Jose Luis Lecaros filed the request through Peru's Foreign Ministry on Monday, a court spokesman told The Associated Press. Peruvian authorities believe Fujimori stole state funds during his 1990-2000 presidency, though they have been unable to offer evidence. In recent days, the Peruvian newspaper La Republica has run a series of articles in which it alleges that the former president siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars from donations made by Japanese benefactors to private aid organizations run by Fujimori family members. The newspaper published copies of checks that it said were deposited into the personal accounts of Fujimori's sister, brother-in-law and mother. The reports alleged that the family members then deposited funds in bank accounts belonging to Fujimori. Fujimori rejected the newspaper's allegations Tuesday, saying "they have reached the extreme of using my elderly mother to confuse the people" in a statement released in Lima. Fujimori, who fled to his parents' homeland of Japan amid a corruption scandal that toppled his government in November 2000, has said he wants to return to Peru and run for president in 2006. The former president is legally banned from running until 2011, and some Peruvians believe his campaigning -- bolstered by high popularity rankings in recent polls -- may be a ploy to paint himself as a target of political persecution. Peruvian Attorney General Nelly Calderon said Sunday that her office has opened an investigation into the newspaper's allegations. Tokyo granted Fujimori Japanese citizenship shortly after he arrived in the Asian nation, putting him out of reach of Peruvian judicial authorities. Peruvian prosecutors have since filed a dozen charges against Fujimori -- from corruption to murder, for allegedly authorizing death squad killings -- in the hopes of persuading Tokyo to turn him over. Fujimori denies any wrongdoing. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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