02-08-2025
Former Dragons' Den star stripped of MBE over string of unpaid bills
A former Dragons' Den star has been stripped of her MBE after it was ruled she was in contempt of court.
Julie Meyer, a 58-year old venture capitalist, was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence after she repeatedly failed to submit documents and attend hearings relating to £200,000 in unpaid legal fees.
The Cabinet Office's recently published list of individuals who have forfeited the honour since August 2023 says Meyer was stripped of the MBE for 'bringing the honours system into disrepute'.
She is one of two women on the list, the other being Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief executive who forfeited her CBE over her handling of the Horizon IT scandal.
Meyer, who was born in the US, was awarded the MBE in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to entrepreneurship.
She was one of two new Dragons chosen for an online version of the BBC Two show in 2009, and was appointed as Lord Cameron's enterprise adviser in 2010.
However, in 2022 she became embroiled in a legal fight with Farrers, a law firm who once represented the late Queen Elizabeth II. A warrant was then issued for her arrest after she failed to turn up to court on Feb 14 that year.
Meyer said she had been unable to travel from her home in Switzerland due to conjunctivitis and not having received a Covid vaccine. But a judge ruled her medical evidence was not grounds to avoid attending the court hearings in person.
It was claimed she owed Farrers almost £200,000, which represented her in a court case in Malta.
The High Court heard she failed to pay Julian Pike, a partner at Farrers, £197,000 after claiming the firm had provided a poor standard of service which had been worth about £50,000.
Mr Justice Kerr labelled Meyer a 'selfish and untrustworthy person'.
He said: 'I am satisfied there is every prospect that the defendant will continue to flout orders of the court unless coerced into obeying them.'
