A Federal Court in Australia has ordered Master Wealth Control (DG Institute) to pay A$5 million in penalties for making false or misleading representations to consumers in the promotion and sale of two education programmes called Real Estate Rescue (RER) and Master Wealth Control (MWC).

The court has also ordered DG Institute to pay consumer redress totalling A$14.7 million to students enrolled in the MWC programme.

Consumers have to be refunded an amount equivalent to the course fees paid by more than 2,100 students who enrolled in the MWC programme between April 2017 and November 2022.

DG Institute’s sole director, Dominique Grubisa, was also ordered to pay A$1 million in penalties, and disqualified from managing corporations for five years, for being knowingly concerned in the contraventions by DG Institute.

Between 2017 and 2022 more than a thousand students enrolled in the programmes, and each paid between A$4,500 and A$9,200 to participate.

The ACCC commenced legal action against DG Institute and Grubisa in December 2022.

“These orders underscore the importance for businesses and company directors to ensure statements made to consumers promoting their products and services are accurate and not misleading,” said ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver.

“The substantial consumer redress orders, the penalties imposed and the five year disqualification order against Grubisa reflect the serious nature of the conduct, and clearly demonstrate the consequences of making false claims when promoting goods or services to consumers.”

In addition to its ruling regarding the penalties and consumer refunds, the court also ordered DG Institute and Grubisa to pay the ACCC costs of the proceedings.

DG Institute is now required to contact consumers eligible for redress and to post information about the redress scheme on its website and Facebook pages.