IA's Dominique Grubisa investigation hits the mainstream

The mainstream media have picked up yet another IA investigation — proving yet again that IA is the best in the business at bringing down the baddies.

INDEPENDENT AUSTRALIA has been the home of tenacious, long-running investigations into public wickedness for over ten years. But unlike the many others who boast about being the best in this field, IA almost always get its man — or woman, as the case may be.

And so it was again this week, on Monday night, when Channel Nine’s A Current Affair aired a damning exposé on dodgy Sydney solicitor and property advice “maven” Dominique Grubisa. As you will know, the aptly named Grubisa has been under investigation by Independent Australia for over a year.

IA was attracted to this story was the amount of work done by several reputable legal professionals, many pro bono, into the allegedly fraudulent activities of an officer of the court. Activities that had led to loss and pain by many decent people, which was seemingly being ignored by the authorities. The latter issue, public maladministration and corruption, has been a recurrent topic in IA reportage over the years, as you will read later in this piece.

The fact Grubisa was being lauded in the mainstream media as a success story was also a significant inducement to investigate. A deciding to investigate is no small decision for a small independent news outlet, because choosing to undertake a potentially years long investigation entails a major investment of time and resources, representing a significant business risk, both legal and financial.

Our first story on this topic, called ‘Real Estate Rescue's Dominique Grubisa: The dame selling distress’ was published on 5 August 2020. It gave Grubisa’s background and gave a broad overview of her questionable activities, lack of interest in such by relevant authorities and the criminal background of some of her team.

This was probably the first negative article Grubisa had ever received in the serious news media and so it wasn’t entirely unexpected, when she responded forcibly on the very day of publication. The threatening letter from Mrs Grubisa’s lawyers expressed a great deal of outrage, but did not detail anything we had said that was actually incorrect or malicious. It demanded, amongst other things, we remove the article, publish a full apology and retraction and pay for her lawyers.

After sternly rebuffing this crude attempt at intimidation, IA followed this article with another, ‘Catfishing with Dominique Grubisa: The DG Institute’s fake reviews’, on 28 October the same year.

A month after that, on 20 November 2020, Gold Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist at The Age, Richard Baker published his first illuminating article on Grubisa's antics: ‘Property spruiker allegedly told students to use Family Court to pinpoint targets’.

Richard Baker has since penned three more important contributions on Grubisa's allegedly predatory behaviour in The Age:

'The government wants your super': How Dominique Grubisa sells her wares (5 December 2020);
Wealth creation guru allegedly used banned lawyer father in $1.2 million Mehajer loan (30 January 2021); and
Self-proclaimed wealth guru’s credit licence cancelled by corporate regulator (10 May 2021)

Independent Australia has in the same time, however, published no less than six more artfully written and intricately researched investigative pieces about this alleged fraudster:

Dominique Grubisa's 'Vestey Trust': Caveat emptor (8 February 2021);
Dominique Grubisa's "distressed" Victorian law practising certificate (5 April 2021);
Dominique Grubisa: Making a fortune from others’ misfortune (16 April 2021);
Pesca de Bagre! More catfish, Mrs Grubisa? (1 May 2021);
EXCLUSIVE: No safe Harbour from Dominique Grubisa (23 May 2021); and, just last week,
EXCLUSIVE: Dominique Grubisa’s “asset protection”: How does she sleep? (28 May 2021).

Interestingly, the title phrase in the most recent IA story, "How does she sleep" was also used by one of Dominique Grubisa’s alleged victims on Monday’s A Current Affair.

Not too soundly if Independent Australia continues to get its man ‒ or in this case, woman ‒ as it has done so many times before.

This is only half the story! You may read the full version of this article, including IA’s outstanding record of its investigations holding bad guys ‒ and gals ‒ to account, in the IA members-only area.

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