Former Allied Newspapers managing director Adrian Hillman has denied claims of unauthorised payments.

Last week the company filed a judicial letter and called on Mr Hillman to “repay amounts spent on company credit cards or transferred to other bank accounts without authorisation or documentation, money related to the unauthorised purchasing of cars using company funds, and money spent on "unilateral and abusive" wage increases paid to himself.”

The former managing director replied with a judicial letter of his own and denied these claims. “Mr Hillman said the claims were completely baseless. He denied making unauthorised spending and said such spending was regularly registered and approved by the auditors and the board, as well as the annual general meeting. This applied also to the car bought for his use as well as other cars, which were bought in line with company practice,” the Times reports. “He insisted that any pay rise he received was revealed to the board and approved by the company in its AGM.”

Mr Hillman resigned from Allied Newspapers in March after he was listed as the shareholder and beneficiary of the British Virgin Islands-registered Lester Holdings Ltd. He stepped down and an internal inquiry was launched after journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia alleged that the company had been opened to deposit kickbacks received from the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri. He denies the allegations.

Last week he filed a case before the Industrial Tribunal claiming unfair dismissal.