Malita Investments' minority shareholders have yet to receive any clarification from the firm after it went back on its commitment to pay regular dividends.
The company's first missed dividend since 2012 comes amid a stormy period that has seen its suppliers file judicial letters over more than €600,000 in unpaid bills, with its executive chairman being replaced earlier this week. Complicating matters are allegations of Ministerial interference being made by a former chairperson.
Despite the turbulence, the Malta Association of Small Shareholders tells WhosWho.mt that despite its best efforts to engage with Malita Investments, it has yet to receive any response.
Tarcisio Barbara, Public Relations Officer of the association, says: "We have sent two letters seeking clarity on the situation, but so far, we remain without an answer,” adding that the most recent letter was sent just last week.
MASS was established in 2011 primarily to support smaller retail investors by educating them about the finance and investment markets.
Yesterday, Malita maintained that it has always “acted independently,” despite the recent developments involving the majority government-owned, publicly traded company. Just two days ago, Johan Farrugia tendered his resignation after a brief tenure which saw him appointed Malita Chairperson in June 2024, and Executive Chairperson in April 2025.
He was since replaced with Former Tax Commissioner Marvin Gaerty an amateur boxer whose almost decade-long tenure as Malta chief taxman was also marked by several scandals. He was questioned by police over WhatsApp chats with Yorgen Fenech, the alleged mastermind of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, but was exonerated by a magisterial inquiry.
It added that any executive resignations “were the result of personal reasons,” and “entirely unconnected to any alleged external intervention,” presumably referring to ex-Chairwoman Marlene Mizzi's removal from the company in May 2024.
Her removal "coincidently happened a few weeks after a meeting at his office, where I stood up to him," she shared to Facebook. Ms Mizzi, a former Labour MEP, also accused Minister for Social and Affordable Accommodation Roderick Galdes of “interfering in the work of a plc” and “hobnobbing with contractors engaged by the company.”
