David Casa asked to testify in Athens in Pilatus Bank whistleblower extradition case

The PN’s head of delegation at the European Parliament, David Casa, will be testifying in Athens tomorrow in the extradition case of Pilatus Bank whistleblower Maria Efimova. This was confirmed by Casa himself when contacted by The Malta Independent.

The Greek authorities are due to decide on whether to accept Malta’s request for extradition or whether to grant her asylum. The arrest warrant was issued in relation to a case before the Maltese courts, instituted against her after her former employers claimed she had misappropriated some €2,000. In another case, she is charged with making false accusations against three police officers.

Efimova is best known as a source of slain investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in the Egrant allegations. She had divulged to Caruana Galizia that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife, Michelle Muscat, is the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of Egrant Inc, a Panama-based company.

The allegation is that money was transferred through Pilatus Bank. Efimova had testified in a magisterial inquiry on the Egrant allegations.

After she escaped from Malta claiming to have feared for her life, Efimova ended up in Greece. In recent weeks, she handed herself in to the Greek authorities due to the international arrest warrant which had been issued.

Casa told this newspaper that he had been asked to go to Athens by Efimova’s defence lawyers and he accepted.

The PN MEP said he was the only Maltese MEP who had been asked to testify but other foreign MEPs might be asked to appear before the Greek court.

On 28 March, Casa visited the Pilatus Bank whistleblower in the prison where she is currently being held, following which he said said: “Deciding to expose corruption and wrongdoing when you are private person is not easy. It takes courage. It means placing the common good above your own safety. And when the case is as high profile as that in which Maria was involved, it takes strength of character that few possess.”

Casa originally went to Athens to make sure Maria Efimova knew she was not alone. “That I am behind her. That the European Parliament is behind her. And she will find us with her every step of the way. It is not Maria that should be behind bars.”

Casa said “overwhelming evidence has long been in the public domain linking this bank (Pilatus) to corruption and money laundering. The recent arrest of Pilatus chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad further confirms that this bank is indeed a criminal organisation.”

The court case will be held tomorrow around noon.