Two directors of an MFSA-regulated company within the Ariadne Capital group have resigned in the wake of serious allegations and claims made against American entrepreneur and founder of the group, Julie Meyer, this newspaper can confirm.
Former director JR Aquilina told this paper: "I confirm that I resigned my position as director of Ariadne Capital Malta Ltd, at the beginning of this month. I have no knowledge of what is going on within the company, and so I do not know what is being done to appoint a replacement director. "
The other director, David Barry, who was also the COO of the same company, resigned at the beginning of September, claiming, it is understood, unpaid emoluments and other payments.
It has also been learnt that a former employee of Julie Meyer has filed a court application requesting more than €22,000 in unpaid salaries.
Ariadne Capital Malta Ltd had previously been called Portcullis, an asset management company, which was licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority and had only just started operating. Ms Meyer reportedly bought the company for about €30,000.
The Times reported last week that the court has issued a garnishee order against Ms Meyer following a claim for over €59,600 by Naxxar firm that does website design and development.
Apart the claim by the former COO, an event company was said to have served her with a legal letter seeking €7,500 due for an activity held in July.
The Malta Independent on Sunday reported last Sunday that The Malta Financial Services Authority is currently monitoring the situation. The MFSA was also asked whether the authority had carried out adequate due-diligence when providing Meyer's companies with licences.
The London Evening Standard reported last year that a former employee, Rachel Lowe, had sued the American entrepreneur for the non-payment of invoices and lost commission, despite Meyer's attempts to counter-sue for £200,000.
A judge awarded Lowe £64,500, of which £35,000 was in costs, and was only paid once Meyer was threatened with a winding-up order.
At the time of the aforementioned newspaper's report, in February 2016, Meyer still owed Lowe £20,000 in legal fees.
The firm has also faced legal disputes with Kingston Smith, GQ Employment Law and international law firm Nabarro in recent years.
Meyer organises the Follow the Entrepreneur Investor Summit, where both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Economy Minister Chris Cardona have been speakers. The event had 50,000 people watching live, 15,000 website visitors and 470 registered investors.
"In order to raise the €1 billion assets under management that our investment platform is targeting I decided to host the Follow the Entrepreneur Investor Summit in Malta," Meyer wrote in an article published in The Times of Malta, "so that large asset allocators such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, large family offices, HNWIs and corporate investors could see the benefits of Malta".
The summit will be held again in June 2018.
Mr Aquilina told this paper that his resignation from ACML was not due to or the result of any regulatory reasons. Mr Aquilina, said that his personal style, especially in the delicate financial sector, is to be as low key and as discrete as possible, which is what shareholders and investors demand, as befits the confidential and fiduciary nature of the business.