The Standards Committee has voted to admonish PL MP Rosianne Cutajar after adopting a report that found her in breach of ethics, however a proposal by PN MPs to suspend her from Parliament for a month was shot down.
The Standards Committee had, on 9 November, adopted the conclusions and recommendations of a report that found PL MP Rosianne Cutajar in breach of ethics. Standards Commissioner George Hyzler had found that Cutajar more likely than not had received a €46,000 brokerage payment, not declaring it.
The Standards Commissioner had looked into the situation after reports had read that Cutajar and one of her political aides – Charles Farrugia - allegedly received around €46,000 each as brokerage fees for the sale of a €3.1 million Mdina property to Yorgen Fenech.
Hyzler had concluded that the evidence he had in hand indicates that Cutajar was “more likely than not” to have received the alleged brokerage fee. Cutajar has denied receiving the funds but admitted to having received €9,000 in cash from Fenech as a birthday gift. Charles Farrugia, known as it-Tikka, sent a letter to Speaker Anglu Farrugia, saying that the money he received was an “ex gratia” payment for introducing the seller, Joseph Camilleri, and the buyer, Yorgen Fenech. He claimed in the letter that Cutajar did not benefit from any of these payments to him. Charles Farrugia said that he had pocketed the entire brokerage fee and amended his tax return to this effect.
However, in the last Standards Committee sitting, Tax Commissioner Marvin Gaerty confirmed that the tax investigation surrounding the situation is still ongoing. Speaker Anglu Farrugia had also checked Cutajar’s declaration of assets in Parliament and said that, while it is obvious that she did not declare the alleged brokerage fee as she denies having received it, she did not declare the €9,000 gift. The committee had adopted the Standards Commissioner’s report, finding her in breach of ethics.
During a committee meeting held on Tuesday, the MPs had to decide on what sanctions to impose on Cutajar.
An MP has a right to make submissions during this stage, and Cutajar appeared before the committee. She said that whether there is a breach or not has to be determined by the outcome of the Gaerty investigation. “One cannot take a decision on a partial investigation and needs to have all the facts on the table.” She said that she doesn’t think she should be sanctioned if the tax commissioner is still investigating.
“I’m not saying don’t judge me, I’m just asking to be judged once there are Gaerty’s conclusions.”
Regarding not declaring the gift, she said it was an oversight on her part and she didn’t think it was practice for MPs to include a gift in their declaration of assets. She said she was never given a gift in return for political favours. “I always conducted my work with integrity.”
The committee debated the possibility of sanctions. PN MP Karol Aquilina wanted the committee to ask Parliament to suspend Cutajar from Parliament for one month as a result of the breach.
“I expected Cutajar to apologise for what happened and to say she will address the issues at hand, like amending her tax forms etc. She made it (failure to include the gift in her declaration of assets) seem like it was an administrative mistake,” he said. He said that the report was into the brokerage and found enough to find her in breach of ethics. “I think this committee must take its role seriously and make clear that such things are no longer acceptable in our political system.”
PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia supported Aquilina’s proposed sanction.She said she expected Cutajar to come before the committee and ask for an apology from the Speaker.
The vote on the PN’s proposal however did not pass, as the two PL MPs voted against it, as did the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia. The PL MPs wanted, instead, to admonish Cutajar.
Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that Cutajar had already paid a high political price when she lost her Parliamentary Secretary portfolio.
He said that Cutajar did not come before the committee and make submissions in defiance of their decision. He said that Gaerty is also still investigating.
He proposed that the committee go for a lighter sanction, that is to admonish Cutajar, as per Article 28A of the Standards in Public Life Act. PL MP Glenn Bedingfield agreed with Zammit Lewis’ recommendation.
There was some debate over possibly ordering Cutajar to fix her asset declaration, however this was not included in the vote after some arguments made by Edward Zammit Lewis. The Opposition MPs wanted to know the wording of the admonition before the vote, but this did not happen.
A vote on Zammit Lewis’ proposal was taken. The two PL committee members were in favour as was Speaker Anglu Farrugia. The two PN MPs voted against, arguing that they were voting against not because they disagree, but because they expect that the MP would at least be asked to fix her declaration of assets. The Speaker will now send Cutajar a notification of the admonition.