Now-defunct sushi chain Sushi Bay has been slapped with penalties totalling more than $15 million, with a court calling its long history of staff underpayments “calculated” and “audacious”.
The ACCC has secured $6 million in penalties against wealth education company DG Institute and its CEO Dominique Grubisa, as well as orders that the company refund $14.7 million in course fees to customers who enrolled in its ‘Master Wealth Control’ program.
The collapsed companies behind dumpling chain Din Tai Fung have been hit with over $3.8 million in penalties after a judge found they engaged in a “a calculated scheme to rob employees of their hard-earned wages and deceive the authorities”.
In a win for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, a court has found Dominique Grubisa’s DG Institute made misleading statements to students who paid up to $9,000 to enrol in her property investment and wealth management programs.
Westpac has settled its claims against the father of Forum Finance director Vince Tesoriero, who along with fellow director Bill Papas is accused of perpetrating a $400 million fraud against the bank to fund their lavish lifestyles.
Lawyerly’s Litigation Law Firms of 2022 racked up precedent-setting victories in a year that continued to see major developments in class action law.
Westpac has told a court that it is “inconceivable” that Forum Finance directors Bill Papas and Vince Tesoriero and funded their lavish lifestyles legitimately, as trial kicked off in the bank’s $400 million fraud case against the Forum companies.
A Federal Court judge has recused himself from hearing a fraud trial against Forum Finance, after expressing that he had an “unfavourable” impression of director Vince Tesoriero’s reliability as a witness.
Bill Papas’ business partner Vince Tesoriero has won the release of $1.25 million to pay for his legal fees in Westpac’s fraud case against him, despite a judge’s finding that disclosure concerning his true financial position was “less than ideal” and included “staggering” discrepancies.
Forum Finance director Vince Tesoriero has been caught out for failing to declare over $150,000 to the court, as he took the stand to defend evidence given about his financial position in Westpac’s fraud case against him.