Peru’s embattled president dismisses ‘Rolexgate’ investigation as a ‘smoke-screen’

Peru's President Dina Boluarte shows a piece of jewellery during a press conference. She has denied wrongdoing in the ‘Rolexgate’ scandal. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, has dismissed an investigation into her use of luxury watches as a “smoke-screen”, denying wrongdoing and saying that the items had been loaned to her, though she admitted to journalists that it was a “mistake” to have accepted them.

Earlier on Friday she faced closed-door questioning by prosecutors which lasted nearly five hours, amid allegations of illicit enrichment linked to her use of at least three Rolex watches and designer jewellery that appeared inconsistent with her modest monthly presidential salary of about £3,320 ($4,200).