A second European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for Maria Efimova can only be issued should new charges be brought against her by the police, The Malta Independent is informed.
“If the person was extradited on specific charges, they would not be able to be charged with another offence,” legal sources explained.
The first EAW against Efimova issued after she fled Malta following charges of misappropriating €2,000 at Pilatus Bank and making false accusations against three police officers, one of whom was Jonathan Ferris. The case predated the Egrant allegations.
Efimova later gave herself up to the police in Athens and was jailed, with the courts ruling that the request was vague and the alleged crime was not serious enough to merit her extradition. This decision was upheld by a Greek Court of Appeal, with MEP David Casa testifying in her case.
Speaking in an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday following the publication of the inquiry’s conclusions, Casa said that Efimova “has been proved right time and time again.”
“She was right about Pilatus Bank’s client list, about the relationship between the bank and Nexia BT and Henley and Partners, and about dubious processes of the bank,” he explained.
The question surrounding Efimova’s possible extradition has begun to gather steam after the Egrant Inquiry found no evidence to substantiate Efimova’s allegations that the infamous Panamanian company belonged to Michelle Muscat and was part of a $1.07 million transfer from the daughter of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. Should Efimova be charged in relation to her claims then another warrant can be issued.
This appears to be a possibility after the Office of the Prime Minister said that that the Muscat family was considering taking action against individuals mentioned in the Egrant Inquiry, “particular ones who have been front and centre of the allegations spread against the Prime Minister and his family”
PL MEP candidate Cyrus Engerer also revealed on Twitter that he had sent an email to the 36 MEPs who had asked Greek authorities to protect Efimova last March to withdraw their appeal following the inquiry’s conclusions.
“The truth has finally come out. In a report by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja who was tasked by the courts of justice to hold an Inquiry, it is proven that what Maria Efimova and the late Daphne Caruana Galizia "revealed" was a lie and a total fabrication. The inquiry also reveals that following the lie, documents were falsified and fraudulent signatures were added to them in order to try and give substance to the story,” Engerer said.
Replying, MEP Ana Gomes questioned how Egrant and Efimova’s extradition were related, especially given that Pilatus Bank, which she described as a criminal organisation, was used for money laundering and that its Chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad was currently released on bail in the USA.