More revelations about the corrupt and abusive way in which ex Super One reporters are put on the public payroll

The Times of Malta reports this morning on how Charlon Gouder, one of the most notorious Labour Party-paid ‘journalists’ who worked for the party television station formerly known as Super One, was first engaged as private secretary to Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera, a personal friend, and then resigned to be reappointed consultant at a much higher salary.

The cabinet minister responsible for this state of affairs is Economy Minister Chris Cardona, to whom PS Herrera reports as his underling. As a private secretary, Gouder could be paid no more than €29,133, because that position is pegged to scale 5 of the civil service payment structure. But a way was found to give him much more. He resigned as private secretary and was appointed ‘consultant’ at a full-time civil service salary scale 3: €36,482 plus a car allowance of €4,659 a year and a mobile phone allowance of €815 a year.

This means that ex Super One reporter Charlon Gouder is now paid a total of €41,956 in public funds every year. Though he receives a full-time salary and allowances that are linked to a full-time position, he continues to work as a lawyer and defend cases at the Courts of Justice.

Chris Cardona gave Gouder’s job description to the Times of Malta as Jose Herrera’s “consultant on various projects and initiatives”, though it is a mystery what these might be.

Charlon Gouder (in white trousers) is seen here at the birthday party of his boss Jose Herrera’s sister, Magistrate Herrera (in black dress) with Magistrate Herrera’s daughter (front of pic), fellow Super One ‘journalist’ Jonathan Attard (now a consultant to Minister Chris Cardona – all in the corrupt family) and Jose Herrera’s canvasser Doreen Tal-Fjur (back to camera).

Charlon Gouder, consultant at the Ministry for the Economy, at lunch some weeks ago at Frankie Grima’s City Lounge with notorious cocaine trafficker Meinrad Calleja, who was sentenced to 15 years in Malta’s prisons for his crimes and before that served time at a prison in Rome.