The Pilatus Bank whistleblower at the heart of claims about the prime minister's wife and his chief of staff has denied allegations of fraud made about her by the Labour Party.  

The Russian woman testified before Magistrate Aaron Bugeja on Friday about claims that the prime minister's wife owned a secret Panamanian company and that the prime minister's chief of staff received kickbacks from the sale of Maltese passports. Both are denying the claims.

In comments to Daphne Caruana Galizia, the woman, who worked at the bank for three months last year, said fraud allegations were made aginst her after she complained to the Department of Industrial Relations about not being paid.  

Her complaint was referred to the police and court action is pending.

Caruana Galizia said Pilatus Bank then filed a retaliatory police report against her, accusing her of using the bank’s money to pay for flights for her husband and children on a trip abroad.

"Not only had the flights been booked with the consent and knowledge of her direct superior, the bank CEO, but they had been booked at his own suggestion when he asked her to travel for training with some other employees of the bank, and she pointed that she couldn’t travel freely on a Russian passport unless accompanied by her husband, an EU citizen, and he couldn’t travel with her because their children are too young to be left alone." 

She was interrogated by the police, then charged with fraud. The case is still ongoing. Her passport was taken away and she could not even travel to Russia when her mother passed away. 

Separately, the woman told Ms Caruana Galizia in comments published on The Malta Independent how in April last year while fetching documents from a bank safe, she came across documents of trust in the name of Michelle Muscat decided to scan them and keep them.