1. Comino Sunbeds Concession

Bartolo faced fierce criticism over the management of sunbed and deckchair concessions on Comino. He withheld the information on these contracts for years, referring to them as “commercially sensitive”. It was only until The Shift Malta revealed that the concessions were held by Daniel Refalo – a developer and business partner of Gozitan construction mogul Joseph Portelli and Mark Cutajar that the public had some answers. 

An interesting layer to this saga involves the business interests that Bartolo’s father and uncles have in Comino as the owners of the ferry company Pleasure and Leisure which operates under the brand name Oh Yeah Malta. This company offers water sport activities in Għadira and a ferry service from Mellieħa to Comino. The former minister has no connection to the company however he began to be criticised for the clear conflict of interest.

The management of deckchairs in Comino have been widely criticised and protested by the public.

2. Malta Film Commission Spending

Under Bartolo’s oversight, the Malta Film Commission came under intense scrutiny for its overzealous spending habits and its reluctance to publish audit accounts.

Besides the millions it spent on the Malta Film Awards and the Mediterrane Film Festival, the Commission recently came under fire by the National Audit Office for not submitting audited accounts. It flagged the fact that Malta Film Week (2022) was not supported by feasibility studies, plans and predetermined goals and criticised the commission for lacking a sustainable business plan.

In 2023, the film commission, led by Johann Grech, spent over €1 million on the Malta Film Awards, despite having a total budget of just €400,000. British comedian David Walliams pocketed €120,000 of tax payers’ money for hosting these awards.

Walliams returned to Malta this year to film a 10-minute clip, featuring none other than Grech (who, by the way, is not an actor), that aired at the Mediterrane Film Festival. The promo clip allegedly cost Malta a lot more than €500,000 while the whole festival cost €3.8 million. According to insiders, some of this money was spent on ensuring that Grech received A-list treatment during the shoot of the promo where he had his own personal trailer.

The commission claimed that the festival generated up to €7 million but a Times of Malta fact check refuted these claims. 

3. Manchester United Sponsorship

Bartolo, a known Manchester United supporter, was involved in the Malta Tourism Authority’s multi-million euro sponsorship deal with the Premier League club. Controversy arose when the ministry refused to publish the full IDPC into the deal, despite being ordered by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.

Bartolo renewed this agreement in 2022 after it was first introduced by then-tourism minister Konrad Mizzi. There were reports and hopes that the men’s team would come to Malta but this never materialised.

The exact number of the millions of taxpayers’ euros spent on this sponsorship is unknown because according to the ministry, Manchester United would “suffer prejudice” that can hurt its commercial interests if this information is made public.

To make matters worse, Bartolo showed up to a Manchester United women’s team game against Birkirkara in a jacket with the English team’s emblem.  

4. A Direct Order For Bartolo’s Brother

Architect Gilbert Bartolo was given a direct order to draft architectural plans for a project at the Institute of Tourism Studies which falls under his brother Clayton Bartolo’s ministry. The ITS CEO told The Shift News he “wasn’t aware” that they were brothers and played it down by saying he had only been paid €1,300 at the time of the questions. 

5. An Illegal Parking Lot For Bartolo’s Family

Back in September 2023, Lovin Malta discovered that a plot of land in Mellieħa was being used as an illegal car park charging each vehicle €5. According to a resident, it had been in use for around three years.

The newsroom found that a permit application to transform the barren land into a temporary car parking area submitted by Gerbulin Investments – whose shareholders and directors are Bartolo’s direct relatives – was refused in 2022.

The architect who signed off the application is none other than Gilbert Bartolo while the applicant company is run by Joseph Bartolo, David Bartolo and Godfrey Bartolo – the former minister’s father and uncles respectively as well as owners of Pleasure and Leisure Ltd.

6. The Consultancy of Amanda Muscat

One of the most recent scandals revolves around Bartolo’s then-girlfriend now-wife Amanda Muscat. She was promoted from his personal assistant to a policy consultant within the Gozo Ministry on a €68,000 annual salary, despite lacking the necessary qualifications.

Further investigations revealed that she continued to perform secretarial duties while receiving a consultant’s salary. The Standards Commissioner found that both Bartolo and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri abused their ministerial powers in this appointment.

Muscat has repaid the €16,000 difference in salaries, implying that her earnings as a private secretary superseded €50,000. She maintained her innocence while making this payment.

7. Alleged €50,000 kickback

The straw that broke the camel’s back and led to Bartolo’s anticipated resignation was the discovery of a suspected kickback issued to Muscat and worth tens of thousands of euros for a Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) contract.

On Tuesday, the Times of Malta revealed that the Maltese Financial Intelligence Analysis (FIAU) flagged payments amounting to €50,000 to Muscat by a company linked to an MTA-contractor which investigators believe to be a kickback. She was paid over a series of six months in 2023, around 18 months after losing her consultancy gig, by a company linked to Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli who secured a €20,000 annual contract with the MTA that same year.

Bartolo resigned after the government received questions from the media about this scandal last week. The sudden change of tune from Prime Minister Robert Abela, who has defended him until yesterday, has raised serious concerns that these abuses may be more common within the government than the public is aware.

Lawyer and former PN MP has even alleged that Abela has known about this suspected kickback since before September but only forced his resignation now due to the pressure that would follow the release of the news.

Do you think Bartolo should have resigned earlier?