Clayton Bartolo resigns from ministerial role

Clayton Bartolo has resigned from his role as Malta’s Minister for Tourism, capping off a difficult three weeks since he was found to be in breach of ethics in a scandal concerning his then-girlfriend Amanda Muscat – now his wife – as well as Minister for Gozo and Planning Clint Camilleri.

Earlier in November, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life released a report concluding that the Ministers had abused their ministerial power by hiring Ms Muscat, who had worked as Mr Bartolo’s secretary, as a policy consultant in his ministry on a €62,000 annual salary.

She was later transferred to Mr Camilleri’s ministry, where her salary increased.

Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi in his report concluded that Ms Muscat did not carry out consultancy work and mainly continued her role as Mr Bartolo’s private secretary, albeit with significantly higher consultant-level pay, even while she was officially listed as an employee under Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.

The investigation also revealed that Ms Muscat lacked the necessary qualifications for the consultant role.

Speaking to reporters outside Castille on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Mr Bartolo resigned after details about a new scandal came to light.

He said that Mr Bartolo will retain his Parliamentary seat but will no longer form part of the Labour Party.

The Times revealed, later on Tuesday, that Ms Muscat allegedly received around €50,000 from the company of an Italian cyclist who had previously been awarded a contract by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA). The transaction has been flagged as suspicious by the FIAU, with the police also being informed.

Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli was first engaged on an “ad hoc” role with the MTA in 2021, with the agreement finalised in 2023 carrying an “all-inclusive remuneration per annum” of €20,000.

Also in 2023, a company linked to Mr Agnoli hired Ms Muscat on a contract that the MTA says was terminated by December of that year. A spokesperson for Mr Bartolo confirmed that his wife was “given work on an assignment basis” to “assist” in cycling-related international initiatives in Equatorial Guinea, Italy, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

Mr Bartolo’s spokesperson continued: “This assignment had absolutely nothing to do with Malta and bore no relation with the work being done by Mr Agnoli for the MTA.”

The forwarding of the report by the FIAU to the police, however, indicates that the anti-money laundering unit was not satisfied with the response, suspecting, rather, that the payment could be a kickback for facilitating the contract between the MTA and Mr Agnoli.