Gouder starts selling passports, residencies a week after leaving agency

After almost four years as a consultant to the government’s Residency Malta Agency, Labour Party insider Charlon Gouder was given a licence to start selling Maltese residencies and passports just one week after leaving the agency.

In yet another example of revolving doors and conflicts of interest, Gouder was approved to start selling passports and residency visas in 2021, in the same year that he was also advising Residency Malta CEO Charles Mizzi on legal matters including the vetting of contracts and applications.

Asked to justify how Gouder could act as an advisor to the agency at the same time that it was in the process of giving him a licence as a residency visa seller, Mizzi glossed over the conflict of interest by insisting with The Shift that, “Gouder was never an advisor and a registered agent simultaneously”.

Mizzi at first refused to provide the date on which the agency issued Gouder an agent’s licence. However, when pressed, Mizzi stated that Gouder was made an agent on 8 April 2021.

A separate document obtained by The Shift through a freedom of information request shows the date Gouder became an official agent was just a week after he stepped down as the agency’s consultant.

An e-mail Gouder sent Mizzi shows that the former Labour reporter stepped down from his advisory role on 1 April 2021 after being in the role for years through direct orders since 1 January 2018.

Industry sources slammed the way the government agency and Mizzi handled the issue and pointed to an obvious conflict of interest because the information Gouder obtained by way of his consultancy at the agency could easily be leveraged for his private practice.

In his email, Gouder thanked Mizzi for the opportunity the agency had given him and offered his assistance, if needed, in the future.

Questions sent to Gouder about his sudden switch from residency consultant to permit purveyor were not answered.

The Shift has already revealed how Gouder’s name was associated with a passport-selling agency, Destination Europe Ltd, whose other main figurehead was Joe Vella Bonnici, another Labour stalwart and former Identity Malta executive chairman.

Destination Europe Ltd was formed in 2018 and describes Vella Bonnici and Gouder as its two team members.

It is owned by Josef Friedrich Santin, the holder of an Austrian Passport with a registered address in Cyprus. The company secretary is Gao Mao, a Chinese citizen residing in Malta.

Asked by The Shift to explain when he began collaborating with Destination Europe, Gouder, who has many other jobs, including a full-time government position, did not reply.

In addition to being a lawyer and a team member of Destination Europe, Gouder is also an employee of the Arts Council and CEO of the Malta Federation of Aquaculture Producers, which represents the multi-million tuna ranching industry. He also presents a weekly television programme on Labour’s One TV.

The Shift has also revealed how Gouder’s signature surfaced on 2017 documents through which the Qormi-based OZO Group contracted a Nepalese agency to import some 350 low-wage workers to Malta. Asked to explain his signature on this contract, Gouder declined to reply.