Amanda Muscats refunds €16,407 from unjustified salary, maintains innocence

Clayton Bartolo’s wife, Amanda Muscat has refunded €16,407 from her public salary as a consultant following a Standards Committee ruling earlier on Wednesday.

In a letter she penned to Principle Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana, Muscat reiterated that she is innocent, “because as the (Standards) Commissioner’s report states, everything was carried out according to the existing manual and regulations.”

The bank draft sent by Amanda Muscat

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Muscat said she refunded the money out of respect for Malta’s institutions, and that it is not an admission of guilt. 

Meanwhile, former tourism minister Clayton Bartolo’s submission to the standards committee was tabled on Wednesday, stating that he believes that it’s time to make amendments to the Manual on Resourcing Policies and Procedures.

Bartolo emphasised that the standards czar’s report makes no reference to criminal action that must be taken. The former minister seemed to take issue with the reference to the phrases “fraud” and “phantom job” that were used in recent days, stating that they are merely an attempt of political spin.

Wednesday also saw the publication of Gozo minister Clint Camilleri’s submissions to the committee. 

While welcoming the standards czar’s report, as well as the committee’s adoption of the report, Camilleri also stressed that Amanda Muscat’s employment was according to the Manual on Resourcing Policies and Procedures. “All the procedures were respected in a normal manner as is the case in other similar engagements,” he said.

Camilleri described Muscat’s scandalous employment as a case of having “worked a job that did not reflect the job title.”

He said that he has personal reserves over the report’s interpretation, noting that “Anyone who had a ministerial role in government knows that it is practically impossible for a politician to certify every employee’s function.”

Camilleri, who is facing calls to resign, stressed that the report did not find that he personally benefitted from the sham consultancy, and that he did not commit fraud or misappropriation. 

The Gozo minister said that he is proud to form “part of a government that practises and enhances governance and the rule of law…”

The full documents can be found below.