Adrian Hillman, managing director of the Allied Group this evening denied all allegations made in his regard and hoped the truth would prevail.

Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia's alleged on her blog that the Prime Minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri has been paying backhanders and kickbacks to Mr Hillman for years.

The board of Allied Newspapers has launched an internal inquiry and Mr Hillman is on extended leave.

In his statement Mr Hillman said:

"As a private person I am unused to the unwarranted attention I have been subjected to over the past few days.

"I have refrained for entering the public debate with a view to safeguarding the integrity of the institution I work for.

"However I now feel it's a must that I set the record straight.

"While it is now clear that at no point have I influenced the editors of Times of Malta, as I have already declared with the board of dDirectors, I deny all other allegations made in my regard and am hopeful that the truth will prevail."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.