Clayton Bartolo says his assets freeze has been lifted

Clayton Bartolo is no longer subject to a court-imposed asset freeze, with the former minister saying that shows allegations against him are "starting to crumble".

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the MP and former minister said a court decree issued this week had revoked the asset freeze imposed on him almost a year ago.

Times of Malta is informed that the court issued the decree after Bartolo filed a request for the freeze to be lifted, saying its six-month operative period had lapsed without prosecutors seeking to extend it. 

A similar asset freeze imposed on Bartolo's partner, Amanda Muscat, is still in place while the investigation continues. 

Bartolo had resigned as tourism minister and quit Labour's parliamentary group in November 2024, hours before Times of Malta revealed the two were being investigated in connection with suspected kickbacks for a Malta Tourism Authority contract given to Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli. 

Those payments, which totalled around €50,000, were made from a company linked to a Malta Tourism Authority contractor. Investigators at the FIAU, Malta’s anti-money laundering body, suspect the payments were a kickback for the contractor getting MTA work.

Bartolo's resignation came weeks after a Standards Commissioner report concluded that he abused his ministerial power by giving his wife a top-paid consultancy job she did not do.

That report concluded that he and fellow minister Clint Camilleri abused their power by making Bartolo's wife (then girlfriend) Muscat a ministry consultant. Muscat was Bartolo's secretary at the time.

In March 2021, she was transferred to Camilleri’s Gozo Ministry and given a pay bump, shifting her salary up to €68,000 a year.

But in reality, Muscat continued to work as Bartolo’s secretary throughout, 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 – did any consultancy work for either ministry.

Then in March, Times of Malta reported that Bartolo and his wife had been hit with a temporary asset freeze as part of the FIAU probe. 

In a Facebook statement on Tuesday, Bartolo said he had nothing to hide and had cooperated fully with the police, offering all explanations demanded of him.

Truth always prevailed, he said, and this was the first step for justice and for him and his family to have their name cleared.

He thanked supporters for their backing, which he said, had continued to grow. 

Bartolo, who has spent the past year serving as an independent MP, has already confirmed he intends to seek reelection and hinted that he will run on the Labour Party ticket.

The couple's lawyers, Michael Sciriha and Roberto Spiteri preferred not to comment at this stage.