Five weeks after announcing his resignation from a government security company, 18-year-old Karl Cutajar is still listed as its director on the Registry of Companies, raising suspicions about his departure.

However, the government yesterday insisted that Mr Cutajar had notified the financial services watchdog of his resignation from Fort Security Services on June 30 – the same day that Economy Minister Chris Cardona announced his departure in Parliament.

“Once all required formalities are addressed, including the selection of a new director, shareholder, legal and judicial representative, who shall occupy this post without any form of remuneration, the Registry of Companies will update the public information to reflect such changes,” a ministry spokesman said yesterday. He was asked to name Mr Cutajar’s successor, since questions sent three weeks ago had not been answered.

In a letter to Fort Security Services chairman John Busuttil, which Dr Cardona referred to in Parliament, the young man had blamed “harsh political victimisation” by the Opposition for his decision to quit. The PN had criticised the government over Mr Cutajar’s appointment, as he is related to the ministry’s chief of staff.

Dr Cardona refuted such claims saying Mr Cutajar had been recruited from within government investment arm Mimcol. He insisted Mr Cutajar was chosen based on his qualifications through a proper recruitment process, but would not get paid extra for his role in Fort Security Services.

In an interview published two weeks ago in The Sunday Times of Malta, Dr Cardona said he was not aware who had succeeded Mr Cutajar. Though this newspaper followed his advice and sent questions directly to Mimcol, it received no answer. Later, the Times of Malta forwarded the questions to the ministry, but a reply was received only yesterday.

As of yesterday, the Registry of Companies on the Malta Financial Services Authority website, listed Mr Cutajar as Fort director, shareholder, legal and judicial representative. No resignation letter was listed. Sources within the MFSA told this newspaper that with changes in the interested parties, the Registry of Companies is normally updated within days.

Fort Security Services contracts services on behalf of the government and engages security officers.