Colombia has rejected an asylum request from Guatemala's ex-economy minister Acisclo Valladares who is wanted for corruption, Bogota's ambassador to the Central American country announced Thursday. The former minister turned up in person to make the request at the Colombian ambassador's residence in Guatemala City on Wednesday, said the ambassador, Juan Hurtado Cano. "He was told clearly that the asylum application had to be transferred to the foreign ministry and that the foreign ministry had turned it down," he said. The ambassador said Valladares' visit was "brief" and denied a claim by the Guatemalan prosecutor's office that Valladares had taken refuge at the embassy. Valladares was economy minister in the government of President Jimmy Morales, but lost his immunity from prosecution when the government's mandate ended last week. Anti-corruption prosecutors in Guatemala have accused the former minister of money laundering and illicit association linked to a network of officials profiting from state contracts in 2011 and 2012. The network consisted of businessmen, officials and former president Otto Perez. Perez, who took office in 2012, is charged with racketeering, illicit enrichment and fraud as leader of the multimillion dollar scheme. The former president served from 2012 until he was forced to resign amid grassroots outrage in 2015. He is being held in preventive detention pending trial. hma/mas/llu/db/jm