Rosianne Cutajar to get minimum €30,000 golden handshake, despite having been sacked

Disgraced former parliamentary secretary Rosianne Cutajar – forced to resign over breach of ethics and possibly tax evasion – will be paid more than €30,000 in taxpayers’ money for leaving office.

According to a terminal benefits scheme introduced for members of cabinet in 2008 and secretly boosted twice by disgraced ex-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat before he stepped down, Cutajar is entitled to be paid at least six months of her annual salary and allowances, as terminal benefits.

Cutajar spent just over 12 months in office, for which she was paid over €61,000. However, despite being effectively sacked by Prime Minister Robert Abela for misconduct, The Shift is informed that she will still receive terminal benefits payments.

Indeed, Cutajar may be entitled to more than the €30,000 we’re aware of: the changes to the taxpayer-funded secret scheme introduced by Joseph Muscat just before he was forced out of office remain unpublished.

The Shift revealed the fact that Muscat had changed the formula for his own benefit resulting in him receiving about double the amount he was entitled to while the government continued to blame the Nationalist administration. Prime Minister Robert Abela still refuses to give the public any details about the changes his predecessor introduced to the scheme, which continues to drain public funds without offering any sort of transparency and accountability.

The Shift revealed last month that upon his resignation, disgraced Prime Minister Muscat was paid €120,000 in terminal benefits, though under the 2008 scheme he would have been entitled to just half this amount.

The rise of the former Qormi mayor

Starting as a newscaster on Labour’s One TV in 2010, Cutajar became Qormi’s Labour mayor in 2012 when she was 24-years old. Considered very close to the higher echelons of the then Labour leadership, led by Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri, Cutajar’s political career progressed rapidly from her past as a ‘hostess’ in Sicily to moving swiftly from one lucrative government job to the other.

Her close relationship with Schembri is the stuff of persistent rumours, as she occupied several roles at the OPM after Muscat became prime minister in 2013, moving from managing communications for the CHOGM summit, to assisting former Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri.

Soon after her election to parliament in 2017, Cutajar was then appointed Commissioner for Simplification and Reduction of Bureaucracy, boosting her income by a further €43,000.

In 2020, when Robert Abela defeated Chris Fearne for the Labour Party leadership and took over as prime minister, he promoted Cutajar to parliamentary secretary.

Unlike his treatment of other members of his cabinet who were found in breach of ethics – such as Minister without portfolio Carmelo Abela – Prime Minister Robert Abela immediately confirmed Cutajar’s sacking after the Standards Commissioner found that she had tried to evade tax and had failed to declare income in her declaration of assets following an investigation into the sale of an Mdina property to Yorgen Fenech, who she was “very close to” and who is accused of being complicit in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.

Abela is a candidate in the same district as Rosianne Cutajar – Qormi. She is considered a firm favourite with Qormi Labour voters, and is known for distributing small gifts and favours to her constituents.

The Opposition continues to demand her removal from Labour’s parliamentary group.

                           

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19 Comments
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Carmel Ellul
Carmel Ellul
2 years ago

Let us get this straight.
Get elected to parliament.
Get a cabinet appointment .
Screw it up , by getting caught red handed in the cash drawer.
Get relocated to the outside office.
Get at least €30,000 tax free , probably, while moving moving your chair to the new office.

carlo
carlo
2 years ago

Tax payers money is being distributed to assassins, corrupt mps, whilst the honest tax paying citizen gets the stick. The most corrupt and disgraced pm in Europe made sure that his amoral, unprincipled and dishonourable lot will be rewarded for supporting his diabolic roadmap.

U int haddiem x’HADT? Hallejtu bniedem disonest jghaddikhom minn ghajn il-labra bla ma ndunajtu.

Joseph
Joseph
2 years ago
Reply to  carlo

Straight to head of nail.

JOHN CASSAR
2 years ago

Hekk sew din Rosianne tigi mkeccijja mill-Kabinett u flok tigi mmultata jew ippenalizzata ghal dak li ghamlet tigi moghtija premju ghall-hazel li kkommettiet. Dik good governanace sur President tar-Repubbliku u sur Prim Ministru

gadflyg
gadflyg
2 years ago

… and we will still vote them in office once again. They are but a reflection of what each one of us is … dim morons who enjoy being robbed by those they vote in office.

Brian Borg
Brian Borg
2 years ago
Reply to  gadflyg

You’re wrong…I never voted for such scum!

Joseph
Joseph
2 years ago
Reply to  gadflyg

They have never and will never get my vote ; unfortunately even morons have a right to vote!!

Aggie
Aggie
2 years ago

Even when sacked for gross misconduct, she gets paid? Nice to see your hard earned taxes going to fund the lifestyle of a criminal.

Francis Darmanin
Francis Darmanin
2 years ago

2008? Another feather in the cap for the Nationalist nincompoops.

Anthony Borg
Anthony Borg
2 years ago

Francis erga’aqra l-articlu.

Neil Dent
Neil Dent
2 years ago

So Miss Cutajar, what would you rather have – your integrity, or a cheque for €30,000?

I see. So, is that Rosianne with an ‘i’ or…..? For the cheque, I mean.

Michael E Gatt
Michael E Gatt
2 years ago

Can I have €30000.00 also.
Haven’t done anything for the government but it seems that is not a problem.

Peter Vella
Peter Vella
2 years ago

A PM once said to his finance minister ‘Ahleb Gus!’ and a wife of
another socialist PM once exclaimed: ‘Make hay while the sun shines’.
Robbing people to pay their inner circle gangs is inbuilt in their DNA.

Toni Borg
Toni Borg
2 years ago

Trid tkun mejta bil-ġuħ biex tieħhu check ta’ tlettin elf euro wara li tinstab ħatja ta’ ksur tal-kodiċi tal-etika!

Mhux hekk Rosianne??? Jew ħadd ieħor biss mejjet bil ġuħ?

Godfrey Leone Ganado
Godfrey Leone Ganado
2 years ago

Is this classified as another ‘under the desk’ deal? Once it is ‘tax free’, it is us taxpayers who have to forfeit the tax which we, lesser mortals, would have had to pay, if we had the priviledge to receive similar benefits on our retirement, after having paid tax and social security after a workimg life of 40+ years.

Chan
Chan
2 years ago

Now I understand why they are robbing the the little people in malta to pay the corrupt. So a small business owner gets a verdict from the courts to pay 50000 in taxes and 40000 in penalties, so that is 90000. Now this outcome is not based on evidence. This person does not own luxury cars, yachts or property. They live day to day with what little is left over. They spent years in court trying to fight for justice they waited 5 years just to get the verdict which kept on getting deferred. The week just before the grey listing they finally get the I’m just verdict to pay 90000. There was no proof of tax evasion it was based on calculations made by the tax department that they believe that every bottle of wine sold they calculate a 3 course meal for 4 people which is pure assumptions not fact and they used the same calculations for every disposable table cloth used. So it is all based on fiction not facts or evidence. They claim that evidence is not needed in tax evasion cases even though in 2015 a case in malta was won on the basis that they must provide evidence in order to convict on tax evasion. Now this case dragged on for so long that the person passed away now the only option the widower that is a pensioner has is to sell their home if they do not manage to get justice in the appeal. We are talking about a person with no means to pay this. So how on earth are the people that owe 40000000 in tax only pay 10000000, politicians they keep saying they are investigating for tax evasion but they have no evidence to peruse but the little nobodies in malta have to become homeless cause no evidence is needed. Shame on these corrupt people that where meant to be in power to help the working class people. Instead they are killing them and filling their own pockets

Datt
Datt
2 years ago

Mela jien jekk nisraq waqt li nkun xoghol nigi mkecci min xoli u jibatuni il-habs filwaqt din kisret xi tliet ligijiet (1. irciviet rigali li ma tistax, 2. amlita ta sensara, 3. ma dikjaratx il flus u qisu xejn mhu xejn. Spongebob kemm qalila irezenja min junior minister u dnubitek mahfura issa jergaw itelawk elezzjoni ohra u tintessa haga.Imsomma photocopy tal MR OCCRP 2019… ezatti kif amel ma konrad.

Ligi al Allat al Lejber u ligi tal bhejjem alina il poplu.
Capcap gahan u gawdi la ek trid u oqod ifrah bnaqa cicri li jbelalek il gvern.

Datt
Datt
2 years ago

Two laws exists in Malta.
Law for the GODS (Government/Ministers (and their friends) more known as “THE UNTOUCHABLES” and the law for the animals (for the Common Citizens who pay their taxes and obey the law)

Austen
Austen
2 years ago

Pretty and corrupt or pretty corrupt? Few pretty people in jail. The moral of this story… be born pretty: get out of jail free.

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