Joe Mifsud recuses in perjury case against Ferris and Efimova

Magistrate Joe Mifsud has recused himself from hearing a perjury case against former FIAU manager Jonathan Ferris and Egrant whistleblower Maria Efimova.

The magistrate said he recusing himself in the best interests of the administration of justice. Mifsud is also presiding over another case against Efimova in which she is charged with having made false accusations against (then) Superintendent Denis Theuma and inspectors Jonathan Ferris and Lara Butters.

Efimova is a former employee of Pilatus Bank who had spectacularly claimed that Egrant belonged to the former prime minister Joseph Muscat and his wife Michelle.

Magistrate - now Mr. Justice - Aaron Bugeja had investigated the claim and discounted it. He had also ordered a perjury probe into Nexia BT money-laundering reporting officer Karl Cini.

Ferris, a former police inspector, had claimed during his inquiry testimony that he identified a $600,000 transaction from an Azeri politically exposed person to Buttardi, a company owned by a close friend of Michelle Muscat. Ferris had claimed the payment was masked as a loan.

But a forensic analysis carried out as part of the inquiry had failed to find any trace of the alleged transaction between Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Alijev, and the New York-based fashion company Buttardi.

Mr Justice Bugeja had requested that the police to question Ferris about how he had reached his conclusion that such a transaction took place.

Perjury charges were then filed against Ferris over the claims he made during the Egrant inquiry. He was questioned about the claim by police in August 2018 following the conclusion of the inquiry.

Ferris maintains his innocence.

When the case began being heard before Magistrate Mifsud on Wednesday, lawyer Pawlu Lia asked the court for permission to be admitted as parte civile on behalf of the Muscats.

His request was upheld.

READ ALSO: Joseph Muscat will be parte civile in Egrant perjury charges

But then the magistrate then declared that he would be abstaining from hearing due to the other hearings pending before him.

The prosecution informed the court that the evidence against Ferris was the Egrant inquiry itself.

Efimova could not be traced to be notified about the case. There is a pending European arrest warrant over the case.

The case will now return to the court registrar to be assigned to another magistrate.

‘Malta is already the laughing stock of Europe’ - Maria Efimova

Reacting to the news on Facebook Maria Efimova criticised the government for issuing a warrant instead of giving her whistleblower status. 

Efimova said that Malta had already become the laughing stock of Europe with its "corrupt practices." ​

Efimova said that there were few in Malta willing to stand up and fight against those who wanted to destroy the island’s reputation. “Anybody with guts there?” she said.