Labour-linked lawyer Charlon Gouder grows overseas footprint with Pakistan venture tied to citizenship and property schemes

Charlon Gouder, the former Labour reporter turned lawyer-businessman with close ties to Robert Abela’s Labour administration, has expanded his commercial interests into Pakistan, The Shift has learned.

Gouder opened an office in Lahore to attract both wealthy investors seeking Maltese citizenship and visas, as well as third-country nationals seeking work opportunities in Malta, while also marketing properties through a newly established real estate agency.

The 45-year-old lawyer has benefited from years of direct government appointments, including through senior political roles within former minister José Herrera’s secretariat when he was responsible for fisheries.

Gouder announced the new venture on social media, describing it as focused on securing Maltese citizenship and residency pathways for “high-net-worth individuals”.

The move adds to a growing network of business interests linking citizenship services, cheap labour recruitment and real estate.

Gouder has previously attracted attention over his involvement in sectors tied to the importation of cheap labour from Nepal.

He later moved from advising the government agency responsible for Malta’s passport sales scheme to co-founding a private citizenship consultancy with former passport agency chief and former PL candidate Joe Vella Bonnici.

The lawyer’s expansion into Pakistan appears to build on a model that leverages Labour’s ongoing policies by offering private services to facilitate the entry of third-country nationals into Malta, while potentially linking wealthy clients to property opportunities marketed through his latest venture.

Research by The Shift shows that earlier this year, Gouder registered a new company, Urban Rise Properties Ltd, a Ta’ Xbiex-based real estate agency in which he holds a 50% stake. His co-shareholder is his cousin, Daniela Borg.

The company promotes itself as having “strong relationships with property owners and developers”.

The Pakistan venture follows revelations by The Shift of Gouder’s recent participation in a major property fair in China, which “coincided” with an official visit by Maltese developers led by Minister Jonathan Attard.

Attard was, until a few years ago, Gouder’s partner in the same law firm, and the two were also involved in legal work related to lucrative property deals.

Questions were raised over Gouder’s presence in China at the same time as the minister, where he was also accompanied by Labour MP Ramona Attard, another close collaborator.

Gouder dismissed concerns, insisting with The Shift that his visit was private and describing the presence of his former law partner, now the minister responsible for construction, as “a coincidence”.

Beyond his private legal practice, Gouder and Associates, and his widening range of political and business interests, Gouder also serves as CEO of the Malta Federation of Aquaculture Producers, representing Malta’s powerful tuna ranching industry.

In that role, he acts as an intermediary between major operators. Several of those operators are linked to both large-scale development projects and the Labour government.

His appointment to the role came soon after stepping down from his political position within Herrera’s former ministry, which was responsible for fisheries.