ASIC hits DG Institute CEO Dominique Grubisa with four year ban for ‘not telling the truth’

Sydney CEO Dominique Grubisa says she will fight a four-year ban for practising without a licence after ASIC found she lied about her qualifications.

ASIC has banned property spruiker Dominique Grubisa for four years after the corporate regulator found she had practised without a licence.

Property spruiker Dominique Grubisa claimed to be a lawyer, entrepreneur, educator and asset protection specialist and much more, with the corporate regulator finding her “habit of not telling the truth” merited a four year ban.

The Sydney-based chief executive of DG Institute was hit with the ban by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Tuesday, finding she was not a fit and proper person.

The lawyer was found to have not held an Australian financial services licence or Australian credit licence, despite claiming to her client she and DGI Wealth did.

Ms Grubisa was also found to have claimed to have been an “ASIC licenced debt specialist” despite no such licence existing.

She was found to have failed to rectify the misrepresentations despite being made aware they were false claims.

The regulator found she had told customers to identify stressed homeowners through the family court.

As part of its investigations ASIC was sent recordings of Ms Grubisa repeatedly making these claims.

The ban comes after Ms Grubisa operated the DGI group of companies for several years, claiming to offer training courses and services across asset protection and wealth management through live seminars and online broadcasts.

Ms Grubisa charged clients up to $5000 for her Master Wealth product, offering to help build a lifetime “force field” around their assets.

The DG Institute claimed it could teach customers to “locate and invest in undervalued property, undertaking property developments, locating undervalued businesses, renovating for profit and how to secure and grow your wealth”.

Ms Grubisa claimed “her mission” was to educate clients “after almost going broke herself”.

“Dominique Grubisa is uniquely qualified to talk about financial success,” she told clients on her website.

“Dominique’s legal expertise has resulted in her appearing as a debt expert on a number of media programs, including: A Current Affair, Today Tonight, The Circle and throughout other forms of print and digital media.”

The ban of Ms Grubisa comes after ASIC clipped Master Wealth Control of its Australian credit licence in May 2021, noting the business had failed to conduct any credit activity since it was granted.

Grubisa’s DG Institute continued to answer phones on Tuesday.

Grubisa, who posted on Monday about the success of a former student, did not respond to requests for comment via LinkedIn.

However, a DG Institute spokeswoman told The Australian they “disagree with the decision made ASIC” and had lodged an appeal of the ban with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

“As DG Institute provides educational products and services and we do not engage in credit activity or provide financial services, we will continue to operate as a business and serve our clients,” the spokeswoman said.

“As this is an on-going legal matter, it would be inappropriate to make further comments at this time.”