Clayton Bartolo says his asset freeze has been lifted, claims he was victim of personal attack

Last year, Bartolo was stripped of his role as minister and was removed from the PL parliamentary group after weeks of dominating headlines.

The investigation centres around transactions totalling around €50,000 made over six months by a company linked to an Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) contractor.

MaltaToday is informed that Bartolo, through his lawyers, requested the asset freeze to be dropped. The order received no objections. The asset freeze imposed on his wife, Amanda Muscat, remains in effect.

This newspaper was also told that the investigation into the alleged kickbacks have been ongoing for around 18 months, and employees from the Tourism Ministry and anyone else who might have been privy to the allegations were questioned.

Bartolo could not be reached for comment, while his lawyers Michael Sciriha and Roberto Spiteri refused to comment.

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.

In 2024, Bartolo was found guilty of breaching ethics when employing Amanda Muscat, his girlfriend at the time, as a consultant despite not having any qualifications.

The investigation by the Standards Commissioner revealed that Amanda Muscat was promoted from private secretary to policy consultant at the tourism ministry despite not having specialised knowledge or qualifications to perform the new role.