WHISTLE-BLOWER CALLED TO TESTIFY AGAIN IN EGRANT INQUIRY
The whistle-blower who revealed the existence of documents that allegedly show that Egrant Inc is a Panamanian secret company owned by the Prime Minister’s wife Mrs Michelle Muscat was yesterday summoned by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja to give more details on the case revolving around Pilatus Bank, where she worked.
The Malta Independent can reveal that, following exclusive comments the Russian woman gave on INDEPTH, the programme pod-casted on independent.com.mt, police officers went to her home and asked her to accompany them. She was taken to the law courts and asked to appear once again before Magistrate Bugeja.
During the INDEPTH interview the whistle-blower repeatedly stated that she cannot repeat what she told the magistrate during her first appearance before him, when she voluntarily went to court to give her evidence.
As revealed by journalist Daphne Carunana Galiza, who broke the story on her blog a month ago, the documents mentioned by the whistle-blower have been scanned and uploaded on the ‘cloud’.
Asked by The Malta Independent’s Director of Content during a special edition of INDEPTH to confirm if these documents have been given to the magistrate heading the inquiry, the whistle-blower said the documents existed, avoiding altogether confirming or denying whether she handed the documents to the magistrate.
During the interview, in which the identity of the whistle-blower was protected, the Russian woman said that she is not afraid of the consequences following her claims, which may have been the real reason why the Prime Minister is seeking an early election on 3 June, nine months ahead of its time.
The whistle-blower explained how her passport was confiscated by the police and consequently she couldn’t travel to bury her own mother who had passed away. She insisted that the Russian Ambassador wrote to the Foreign Ministry, claiming that by Russian law passports of Russian nationals cannot be confiscated, but these claims have been ignored.
INDEPTH can be viewed on independent.com.mt.