A magistrate on Wednesday morning lambasted US entrepreneur Julie Meyer for having sent her e-mails about pending cases after having failed to appear for sittings.

Meyer is being sued by a company in Malta for unpaid bills and is also being pursued by employees – both in Malta and in the UK – for unpaid wages.

Julie MeyerJulie Meyer

Her UK company Ariadne Capital was put into the hands of administrators last December.

In a sitting of the Industrial and Employment Relations Department, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech said that Ms Meyer and her legal counsel in the UK had sent her e-mails about the case.

The magistrate pointed out that according to her oath of office and according to law, the said communication was to be read out in open court and thereafter communicated to the President of the Republic.

READ: Meyer received €17,500 in sponsorships, PQ reveals

The Magistrate lambasted this behaviour as “unethical and also illegal”, and pointed out that although Ms Meyer had tried to blame her non-appearance in court on her Maltese lawyer, there was no evidence in the emails to support her claim.

“There was absolutely no negative light to be shed upon the work of her lawyer,” the magistrate recorded in the minute.

The court further pointed out that, irrespective of whether the amounts due by Ms Meyer were settled or not, since these were pending criminal proceedings and since under Maltese law there was no concept of trial in absentia, the case was to be decided in the presence of the parties charged. 

READ: Naxxar firm claims €59,600 from US businesswoman Julie Meyer

On April 25, after Ms Meyer did not show up for a sitting, Magistrate Frendo Dimech ordered the Commissioner of Police to locate her within 48 hours.

The magistrate ordered the commissioner to dedicate all the police resources required to find her - including fixed point watch at any address she may be in.

The case continues in June.

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