Captain Morgan has denied claims that it donated €108,000 to the Labour Party, saying that it only gave the PL €3,000.

Last week, during a fundraising marathon, a representative of the Naxxar PL committee presented the party with a donation of €108,000. The representative singled out former ambassador Michael Zammit Tabona and his business group's tourist cruise ship company Captain Morgan for praise.

In a statement on Wednesday, the tourism operator referred to "misleading" reports, saying that these "could, and should, have been avoided had the facts been verified, instead of forging ahead to report contorted interpretations made by politicians and other commentators."

The company said the donation to the Partit Laburista was made by the Labour Party's Naxxar committee, and the funds were collected from the residents of Naxxar and other donors. "Those donors included Captain Morgan, but our donation of €3,000 - which was within the legal limit - constituted but a minuscule fraction of the total amount collected."

The company also produced the receipt given to it by the PL.