Photos: Miss Universe Organizers, Miss Angola Leila Lopes Deny False Document Claims [PHOTOS]

By IB Times Staff Reporter | Sep 22, 2011 10:53 AM EDT

Both the Miss Universe Organizers and the 2011 winner Miss Angola Leila Lopes have denied allegations that false documents helped her win the crown.

Lopes was caught in a scandal claiming she used false documents to help her advance to win the competition. However, since the rumors surfaced, they were quickly shut down during an interview on a Spanish show called "Al Rojo Vivo."

According to AOL Latino, Lopes, 25, said she doesn't know where the allegations are coming from and that she won't be bothered by them.

"I honestly don't know where they got that information. I gave Miss Universe all the required documentation. I'm legal," Lopes said, according to AOL. "I just would like to begin the work of Miss Universe. What was said doesn't affect me because I know that [the naysayers] are in the wrong and I'm in the right. I have the documentation in my hands."

Argentine daily newspaper Infobae alleged that a man called Charles Mukano falsified documentation so that Lopes could participate in the Miss Universe pageant. The paper also claimed that Mukano helped Lopes win the Miss Angola UK ‑ through false documentation ‑ when Lopes presumably lived in Angola.

But not so, according to the Miss Universe Organization, in an e-mail sent to AOL Latino.

"We also heard the rumor that her parents were from Cuba and [that] she speaks Spanish, which is false," the Miss Universe Organization wrote in an e-mail to AOL Latino last week. "We have never heard of [Charles Mukano]. The national director who ran the Miss Angola pageant is Renato Guttler."

And to those claims Lopes also responded saying: "I'm 100 percent Angolan. The last name Lopes comes from the fact that Angola was colonized by the Portuguese"

Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, is crowned by Miss Universe 2011, in Sao Paulo on Sept. 13, 2011

Source: Reuters

Miss Angola Leila Lopes participates in the swimsuit segment of the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in Sao Paulo September 12, 2011.

Source: Reuters

Miss Angola Leila Lopes steps forward after being chosen among the final ten contestants of the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in Sao Paulo September 12, 2011.

Source: REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

Miss Universe Angola 2011, Leila Lopes is crowned the winner of the 2011 Miss Universe Competition. She celebrates on stage at Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP

Source: Darren Decker