Repubblika files notice of crime after kickback allegations against Clayton Bartolo’s wife

Rule of law NGO Repubblika has filed a notice informing the police that a crime has occurred following allegations that Clayton Bartolo’s wife received tens of thousands of euros in a kickback.

Repubblika filed a “notitia criminis” - a notice informing the police that a crime has occurred – with Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa against Clayton Bartolo, his wife Amanda Muscat, and Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli.

The NGO said the three acted as accomplices and participated in a criminal association to commit bribery and corruption, trading in influence, and money laundering.

“All these offenses are qualified as continuous offenses since the various acts committed by the accused, even if at different times, breach the same legal provisions and were carried out with a single resolution,” Repubblika’s lawyer Jason Azzopardi wrote in a letter to the commissioner.

On Tuesday, the Times of Malta reported that Amanda Muscat received tens of thousands of euros from a private firm suspected to be a kickback related to a Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) contract.

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), Malta's anti-money laundering agency, flagged the transactions to the police. The payments, estimated at around €50,000, were reportedly made over six months by a company linked to an MTA contractor. 

 The FIAU investigation focused on Muscat’s work for a company associated with Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli in 2023. In 2021, Agnoli was hired by the MTA to promote cycling tourism and formalised a €20,000 annual agreement in 2023. 

Amanda Muscat began working for an Agnoli-linked company in 2023, 18 months after leaving her unjustified ministry consultant role, and ended the assignment in December.

Investigators believe Muscat’s payments might be tied to an MTA-related kickback.