Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina has resigned hours after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, BBC News reports.

Prosecutors accuse Perez Molina of masterminding a scheme to defraud the customs service of millions of dollars. He denies the allegations.

On Tuesday, September 2 Congress stripped him of his immunity from prosecution, a first in the Central American nation.

A spokesman said Perez Molina had decided to step down to "confront the proceedings against him".

Molina's resignation comes just days before Sunday's presidential election, in which he was barred from standing under constitutional rules.

Vice-President Alejandro Maldonado is expected to govern until the new president is sworn in on 14 January.