The Federal Court has convicted Joshua Fuoco of contempt of court and has sentenced him to 12 months of imprisonment to be suspended for two years.
In addition, Fuoco will never be allowed to be involved in financial services or credit activities, following an undertaking he gave to the court.
In 2018, Fuoco was found to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct, and to have contravened financial services laws.
The court held in the contempt proceeding that between March 2019 and April 2023, Fuoco deliberately breached the financial services injunctions imposed on him through his involvement in five companies: State Advice, Ansa Finance, AFSL Group, About Advice, and Advice Now.
Those businesses operated a similar model to that denounced by the Court in 2018, affecting hundreds of vulnerable consumers and eroding their superannuation balances. Over $2.2 million in income was generated through the businesses.
In delivering his judgment, Justice Horan said that Fuoco’s conduct was the “most serious incident of contempt of court in recent years” and found Fuoco guilty of all 18 charges of contempt.
His Honour found that Fuoco’s conduct “amounted to a premediated, persistent and wilful defiance” of the court’s orders, and “constitutes an extremely serious contempt with a clear tendency to interfere with the administration of justice and the authority of the court”.
The seriousness of Fuoco’s conduct warranted a term of imprisonment, but his Honour was persuaded to give Fuoco “one last chance” by suspending his sentence.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said the judgment demonstrates that such brazen and intentional disregard of the law will be strongly punished. ASIC will continue to take action to ensure court orders are complied with.
