Pilatus Bank said it had no dealings with companies carrying the names Hearnville, Tillgate and Egrant, the companies named in the Panama Papers which are linked with No Portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi, OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and, now, PM’s wife Michelle Muscat, a claim the PM is refuting. 

The statement, which was not received by The Malta Independent but which is being reported on other news media, said that the bags filmed by a NET TV crew were the chairman's personal luggage as he had attended a scheduled board meeting immediately after arriving on a flight from Washington DC.

Two individuals, one of whom was the bank's chairman, were filmed leaving the bank's Ta' Xbiex offices carrying luggage and a briefcase. 

"This is a fact that can easily be verified and confirmed through CCTV footage that will show the chairman entering the bank’s premises with the same luggage and briefcase shown on the TV clip on leaving the bank," it said in its statement. 

"The mere suggestion that any documents were removed from the bank’s premises is simply fiction, and a complete distortion of fact."

It welcomed the launch of a magisterial inquiry as a positive step and said it would be cooperating fully to ensure that the facts are properly established.