Police deny Maria Efimova mistreatment claims

The Police Force has denied claims made by former Pilatus Bank employee Maria Efimova that she was mistreated and pressured to apologise to bank executives, during her interrogation in August 2016.

The police statement released on Monday was a reaction to an interview Efimova gave to Greek portal ekathimerini.com on Saturday. Efimova claimed to have been mistreatment by the Malta police.

“The policemen who interrogated me told me, ‘We are friends of the bank’, and they even pressured me to apologise to the bank executives they had brought to the police station,” Efimova was quoted saying.

She said one of the police officers present pushed her and took her mobile phone, in the presence of two bank executives.

However, the police have categorically denied all the claims made by Efimova.

“Reference is hereby being made to media articles where Ms Maria Efimova is alleging that during an interrogation held in Malta in August 2016 two Police Officers, mistreated her, pushed her, and took her mobile phone while two Pilatus Bank executives were present. Ms Efimova is also claiming that during the mentioned interrogation, the police officers pressured her to apologise to the bank executives,” read a Police statement issued on Monday.

“Please note that the Police Force categorically denies all the claims made by Ms Efimova and also strongly deny that any representatives of the bank mentioned were present during the interrogation.”

Read also: Maria Efimova’s lawyer pours cold water on political asylum claims

Efimova’s claims of mistreatment, made after she was interrogated at the Msida police station on 11 August 2016, are the subject of criminal proceedings brought against her by the police, where she stands accused of making defamatory statements about then Superintendent Denis Theuma, Inspector Jonathan Ferris and Inspector Lara Butters.

Last July, the court fined Efimova €500 and ordered that she be brought before it under arrest, when she did not appear for a scheduled sitting. She subsequently failed to appear before Magistrate Joe Mifsud for another sitting leading the magistrate to request that she be placed on the wanted list.

A European Arrest Warrant as well as an International Arrest Warrant were issued against Efimova in August 2017.

The Russian national was named as one of the sources behind allegations by the late Daphne Caruana Galizia, that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's wife Michelle was the ultimate beneficial owner of the Panamanian company Egrant, and that the company had received a payment of over $1 million from a company belonging to Leyla Aliyev, daughter of Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev.

Efimova claimed to have seen a declaration of trust proving Michelle Muscat's ownership of Egrant, while she was still an employee at the bank. Efimova also alleged that the company held an account at the bank, through which it had received the funds from Aliyev.

The Muscat's have vehemently denied the allegations, describing them as the "biggest lie in Malta's political history". Caruana Galizia's story broke in April last year, leading many to believe that they were the sole reason for Malta going to the polls a year early.

The Prime Minister had also requested a magisterial inquiry into the allegations. The inquiry is still ongoing.

Some two weeks ago, Efimova turned herself in to Greek authorities after having fled Malta. She is currently being held in a Greek jail awaiting the processing of the European Arrest Warrant. Efimova's decision to turn herself into the police came on the same day as Pilatus Bank chairman Ali Sadr Hashiminejad's arrest in the US. He was charged with being involved in the setting up of a scheme intended to circumvent US sanctions against Iran.

In her interview with ekathimerini.com, Efimova claimed to have been made aware of Hashiminejad impending arrest.