Updated 3.06pm - Adds Brian Tonna's latest reply to Daphne Caruana Galizia

Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna has denied claims that he bought a £17 million (€20.3 million) London house through an offshore company as "a complete and blatant fabrication."

"I have never acquired, directly or indirectly, any immovable property in London," Mr Tonna said in a brief statement sent to the press. 

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Mr Tonna was denying claims published by The Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who posted an article on her personal blog today in which she alleged that Mr Tonna had bought the property early last year through a company he owns in the British Virgin Islands named Willerby Trade Inc.

In her article, Ms Caruana Galizia claimed that the Nexia BT partner paid for the property through a company account at Pilatus Bank in Malta, with an initial £5 million deposit and an agreement to pay the £12 million balance in instalments. 

Mr Tonna, who managed the offshore dealings of minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri, said that he had received an email from Ms Caruana Galizia seeking a reaction to her allegations "at 9.50am this morning." 

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In a reply, Ms Caruana Galizia challenged Mr Tonna to publish the "full and undoctored statements for Willerby Trade Inc.'s account at Pilatus Bank."

"You are the ultimate beneficial owner of that British Virgin Islands company, with your identity hidden behind Mossack Fonseca nominees," she added. 

In a reply, Mr Tonna said Ms Caruana Galizia's allegation earlier this morning was that he had acquired a mansion in London for €17m through Willerby Trade Inc.

"I denied your allegation clarifying, for good measure, that I haven’t acquired any property in London, directly or indirectly. It is up to you to prove otherwise, such as by producing a contract of acquisition by Willerby.

"For the record, I have never denied owning Willerby Trade Inc. I do however deny the assertions in your latest post that Willerby Trade Inc. was set-up for money-laundering purposes and to conceal profits from the local authorities. I further deny ever having used any faked documents or doctored PDFs. Once again, it is up to you to prove what you assert."