Bogota, Apr 17 (EFE).– The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla group said in a post on social media this weekend that it did not have a fortune of $10.5 billion as reported by Britain’s The Economist.

FARC chief peace negotiator Ivan Marquez called the article a “joke” in a Twitter post.

“They should check their sources and not believe stories about the imaginary fortunes of the insurgency,” Marquez said.

The guerrilla chief said in another message that it was “absurd that a rebel army could have accounts in tax havens.”

The Economist said the Colombian government had a secret report estimating that the FARC had accumulated a fortune of more than $10 billion.

President Juan Manuel Santos said last Thursday that Colombian, U.S., British and Swiss intelligence agencies had been unsuccessful in tracking down money possibly belonging to the FARC, which has been negotiating a peace agreement with the government for more than three years.

“We have not been able to detect these fabulous accounts that they are said to have,” Santos said.

“President Santos says he’s been trying for 10 years, as defense minister and as chief executive, to go after the FARC’s dough and nothing,” Marquez said.

“Even with the collaboration of U.S., English (and) Swiss intelligence and many banks, they have not been able to find these ghost accounts,” the guerrilla leader said.

The Economist’s story, which was picked up by many media outlets, cites financial analysts who suspect that part of the FARC’s money was invested in transportation companies, rural properties and the stock market. EFE