Arrest warrant for Russian whistleblower issued in Cyprus - reports

Cyprus has issued an arrest warrant for Russian whistleblower Maria Efimova in connection with a four-year old case, the Cypriot Business Mail has reported. A former Pilatus Bank employee, Ms Efimova is linked to the Egrant scandal, which precipitated last year's general election. Referring to Ms Efimova as “the source for murdered Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and for whom members of the European last month asked EU member states to grant whistle-blower protection”, the news portal said Ms Efimova faced arrest if she went to Cyprus in connection with a case which at the first glance appeared unrelated. Ms Efimova said she was certain the complaint was part of a plot organised in Malta to publicly discredit her or have her extradited to Malta. It said that Ms Efimova, who used to work until 2014 for the Russian-owned Cypriot company I.D.F. Fragrance Distribution Ltd before leaving Cyprus, said she was informed she was likely to face arrest upon her return to Cyprus –where she wants to settle with her family. Ms Efimova said that although in November news reports said that Malta had issued an arrest warrant against her, she had since travelled to...