VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltàs Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has resigned following a report published by The Times of Malta, that his wife, Amanda Muscat received payments which amount to around 50,000 euros from a private company linked to Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli in 2023, and which financial investigators suspect were a kickback for a Malta Tourism Authority contract.
The payments considered as “suspicious” by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit – Maltàs anti-money laundering body – have been flagged to the police on suspicion of money laundering.
The Times of Malta reported that the payments were transferred to Bartolòs wife Amanda Muscat over a period of about six months. The Italian cyclist describes himself on social media as Visit Maltàs head of sponsorship.
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela forced Clayton Bartolo to resign as a minister and Labour MP after the newspaper sent questions querying the matter last week.
Agnoli was hired by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) in 2021 on an “ad hoc” basis to promote cycling tourism. The arrangement was formalised last year with Agnoli being put on what a Tourism Ministry spokesperson described as an” all-inclusive remuneration of 20,000 euros per annum”.
Muscat was hired by an Agnoli-linked company in mid-2023, roughly 18 months after her job as a ministry consultant was terminated. Her work at the Agnoli-linked company ended in December of that year.
Bartolo was also forced to resign from Labour’s parliamentary group and will now serve as an independent MP.
A spokesperson for Clayton Bartolo confirmed that his wife was “given work on an assignment basis” by an international company connected to Agnoli. The work consisted of Muscat “assisting” in a number of cycling related international initiatives in Equatorial Guinea, Italy, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. “This assignment had absolutely nothing to do with Malta and bore no relation with the work being done by Agnoli for the MTA. Muscat was not employed with the said company, but was providing an assignment-based service, as every private citizen has a right to do. Indeed, she fulfilled her tax obligations in accordance with her income”.
The Tourism Ministry spokesperson said Agnoli provides his professional services in the product and marketing directorates at the Malta Tourism Authority, mainly focusing on cycling tourism. “He has been pivotal in Visit Maltàs strategy to penetrate the cycling world, notably the Giro D’Italia. He lends his expertise to the Authority in managing its branding partnership with the professional cycling team Eolo-Kometa”, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Agnolìs brief includes the organisation of an annual training camp in Malta, coordinating the activities between the MTA and Vatican Cycling, coordinating the activities relating to the Giro D’Italia, advising the authority on the international cycling world, and assisting the MTA with the development and implementation of cycling tourism product within the Maltese islands.
This is the second time a job given to Bartolòs wife has landed the former Minister in deep trouble. In 2020, Bartolo made his wife and then-girlfriend a ministry consultant. Muscat was his secretary at the time. In March 2021, she was transferred to Clint Camillerìs Gozo Ministry and given a pay bump, shifting her salary up to 68,000 a year. However, Muscat continued to work as Bartolòs secretary, while earning a consultant’s salary – including a 20,000-a-year “expertise allowance” that regulations state should only be given in “exceptional circumstances”.
The Standards Commissioner found no evidence that Muscat – whose sole qualifications were a couple of A levels and whose previous job experience focused on secretarial work and not on any consultancy work for either ministry.
Bartolo initially offered a conditional apology for the breach, saying “no one is perfect” and saying calls for him to resign were based on “political spin”.
– Photo Department of Information Malta –
(ITALPRESS).
