The Committee on Rules of Procedure of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has voted that there was a “serious breach of the rules of conduct” by Rosianne Cutajar.

The former Parliamentary Secretary was investigated for failing to declare a conflict of interest when speaking against the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt had accused her of breaching ethics over her close links with Yorgen Fenech.

The committee is now to prepare and publish a report and inform the Speaker of the Maltese parliament accordingly.

The complaint had come after the news broke that Cutajar had acted as a broker in a property deal involving the 17 Black owner. Locally, Cutajar had also been found in breach of ethics by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler. The latter had said that Cutajar had “more likely than not” taken a €46,000 brokerage fee and had also failed to declare a €9,000 ‘gift’ from Fenech in her Parliamentary declaration of assets.