MEP Sven Giegold, financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group and member of the PANA committee, said today he believes that the Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) should investigate the Egrant accusations.

“The accusations regarding the Prime Minister’s wife have to be properly investigated,” said the MEP in a press release. “Given the poor track record of financial supervisors and anti-money laundering regulators in Malta, we understand that Mrs Caruana Galizia does not trust the Maltese institutions.Therefore, we suggest to Mrs Caruana Galizia as well as Prime Minister Muscat to hand all relevant documents to the PANA inquiry committee of the European Parliament,” he said.

He continued to say, "if Malta is serious about getting rid of its image of the complicity of dirty money, it has to immediately put its own house in order. If the allegations regarding the Prime Minister's wife turn out to be true, this would be another serious blow in Malta's fight against corruption and money laundering after the involvement of the Energy Minister and the Prime Minister Chief of Staff in the Panama Papers.”

The MEP was refering to allegations by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia regarding the wife of Maltese Prime Minister being the ultimate beneficial owner of Egrant Inc, a company registered in Panama. The prime minister has denounced all accusations and announced to sue Caruana Galizia for libel.