Alleged Provisional IRA leader Thomas "Slab" Murphy said last night he owned no property and there was "absolutely no foundation" to allegations about his activities.
Mr Murphy, who has never before made a press statement, was the target of raids last week in Dundalk and Manchester by the anti-racketeering agencies in the Republic and the North.
The North's Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) is investigating what it says is a £30 million (€43.7 million) portfolio of 250 properties built up by the republican movement.
Mr Murphy said allegations made about him after the raids were false. He said he had never conducted business with Craven Property in Manchester and had no link with any other business run by that company.
There was no mention of the IRA in the statement issued by Belfast solicitors Madden & Finucane, but Mr Murphy said he was a Republican and supported the peace process. "I have been a republican all my life and fully support the peace process. I will continue to play whatever role I can, to see it work," Mr Murphy said.
Mr Murphy, who lost a libel action against the Sunday Times some years ago, said he had had to sell his home to cover his legal fees.
"The premises depicted in the media is not in fact my home and I do not live at that address. I make a living from farming," he said.
Dermot Craven, owner of Craven Property, has denied any involvement with the IRA or racketeering. At a press conference on Monday, he said his firmmanaged the affairs of Sailor Property (UK) Ltd, a company owned by Mr Murphy's brother Frank Murphy.
Thomas Murphy's statement said: "It is distressing to myself and my family to see false allegations being made by anonymous staff in the ARA and repeated as fact in the media . . . My name has appeared on no ARA statement that I am aware of and no agency has been in contact with me in relation to any of this."
An ARA spokeswoman declined to comment.
Earlier yesterday, at a cross-Border seminar on organised crime in Clontarf, Dublin, the head of the ARA, Alan McQuillan, denied Sinn Féin accusations that last week's raids in Manchester were politically motivated.
"We are an independent agency, we are accountable to parliament. We take our operational decisions independently and there is no political influence in what we do or when we do it," he said.
"My motivation is taking assets off criminals, that's my job. That's what we will continue to do without fear or favour."