GUATEMALA CITY – Mexico extradited former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo on Tuesday to face corruption charges, and the ex-leader told a judge there is no evidence to support the allegations against him.

Portillo, Guatemala's leader from 2000 to 2004 before fleeing to Mexico, arrived in Guatemala early Tuesday on a Mexican government plane. He is accused of authorizing US$15 million in transfers to Guatemala's Defense Department, where officials close to him allegedly pocketed most of the cash.

He denied the charges during an appearance before a judge hours after his return to Guatemala.

“In order to prove fraud, one must show that the accused had control over the money and we have account receipts from the controller general showing the president was not in charge of any funds,” he said.

The judge will decide whether to send Portillo to prison or release him on bail.

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department ordered Portillo extradited in 2006, but the ex-Guatemalan leader fought the order for years. His lawyers took the extradition order to the Supreme Court and argued that the department didn't have the constitutional authority to decide extraditions. The court disagreed with Portillo, but Portillo's extradition still inched through the Mexican legal and diplomatic system.

In the end, Portillo sent the Mexican government a letter on Friday saying he would no longer fight extradition, according to a statement by the federal Attorney General's Office.

In a brief statement to reporters, Portillo said he was innocent and he decided to return home and face justice because he trusts the courts under the government of President Alvaro Colom more than under the administration of former President Oscar Berger.

“They savagely and indiscriminately hunted me for four and a half years,” he said of Berger's government.

Colom took office in January and has said little about Portillo's case. Juan Luis Florido, the former Attorney General appointed by Berger, stepped down two months ago.

Portillo came to Mexico days after leaving office, got a work visa and began working as a financial adviser for a construction materials company. He remained free while in Mexico.