By Tom Winnifrith | Monday 14 May 2018
Julie Meyer's laughable insistence that Maltese Regulators at the MSFA have only suspended her license because she stated this month that the Island was no place to do business and that she would quit, have infuriated the regulatory wallahs in the Mediterranean isle. Quite simply Meyer is lying and the Winnileaks service has got its mitts on an official email from the MSFA to Meyer from November 2017 that proves that but also that Meyer has defrauded an investor. I publish that email below.
You will see that the MSFA did indeed, as it stated last week not only begin its investigation in November 2017 but had by the 24th of that month flagged up a series of failings and had critically banned Ariadne from taking on any new clients. That is a massive step to take. And it shows that Meyer's protests as to why the MSFA suspended her license are just plain lies.
But it is worse. The ban on taking on new accounts is a very material measure in light of what Meyer had promised investors. In a pitch to a potential investor in Ariadne Capital Group Limited ( her Maltese entity) dated 7 October 2017 she stated:
I personally acquired Portcullis Asset Management (PAML) in Malta last year which gave Ariadne (because of the transfer of the top co vehicle to shareholders and a new group structure, Ariadne Capital Group Limited) a full AIFM with passports across Europe enabling Ariadne to set up a pan-European investment fund or platform. This was roughly the same infrastructure that Santander Pensions had wanted to purchase a large minority stake in Ariadne Capital for (without cashing anyone out), and to make us a captive vehicle in Dec 2015. Even though it was difficult to park $100m (there were two very bad clauses that made no sense whatsoever), we made the right choice. PAML provided us with the same infrastructure and accelerated time to market as an institutional investment firm, providing us with a great team, a presence in Malta, knowhow, and a launch pad for the ECO2 Investment Platform that we are taking to market now.
This acquisition has enabled Ariadne to position itself as the firm that can take Platforms into Venture Capital in Europe and around the world. The ECO2 Investment Platform is the first Multi-Manager Venture Capital Platform with a target of €1 bn AUM but it is an open-ended partnership. I am doing a first close of €250 m AUM in Q4 2017. ECO2 marries the requirements of the large asset allocators with the venture funds for the benefit of European tech entrepreneurs and industry ecosystems in Europe. The investment platform has the following characteristics:
Sub Funds with very strong track records
A significant cost arbitrage through Malta where they are set up
Ends
Yet the 24 November MSFA email means that Meyer MUST have known that she was unable to deliver on that since she could take on no new clients.
On 28 November that same investor sent cash to Meyer to invest in Ariadne. Failing to disclose the material change in circumstances of Ariadne was surely a slam, dunk fraud. It is like an AIM Company sitting on a profits warning while it gets a placing away.
And this may not be the only investor who can now show clearly that Meyer defrauded him by withholding material information. We published an internal email sent by devout Christian Meyer on 26 November 2016 where she talks of a fundraising which is ongoing - see HERE.
I have passed the document to the investor in question who is, this week, travelling to Malta to commence legal proceedings to get back his money on the basis that he was misled as to the investment proposition. I should cocoa.
A second MSFA email will follow later... but Meyer is now shown demonstrably to have lied and committed fraud and I hope her lawyers at Farrer & Co are reading this... Go ahead make my day....
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