Egrant whistleblower to be arrested after courtroom no-show

The woman will appear before the court under arrest in the next sitting in August

A court has ordered the arrest of the Russian woman at the centre of the Egrant allegations, after she repeatedly failed to appear for court sittings in which she is charged with making false reports against police officers.

The woman is the subject of at least two criminal proceedings, accused in one of defrauding Pilatus Bank and in another of having made false accusations against Superintendent Denis Theuma and inspectors Jonathan Ferris and Lara Butters.

Ferris and Butters had been investigating the fraud allegations filed by Pilatus Bank and had arraigned the woman under arrest before the criminal court.

She then faced charges for defaming the police who arrested her.

When he later joined the government’s anti-money laundering agency (FIAU), Ferris was reportedly asked to step back from the Egrant investigations, having already investigated the woman in fraud allegations and the defamation charges filed against her. The former inspector was dismissed from his post last month. He is on the record as saying he believed his sacking was intended to silence him.

Whilst both Theuma and Butters were present in the courtroom today, the woman herself once again failed to appear.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud commented that that it was not right that this person brought the country to a halt and then fail to appear in court.

The magistrate was told that Theuma had to take leave of an important meeting discussing the possible legalisation of marijuana in order to be present.

The court fined the woman €500 and ordered that she be brought before it under arrest for the next sitting in August.