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The Federal Circuit and Family Court ordered Melbourne-based personal loan brokerage Ansa Finance to pay $233,100 and its manager Joshua Fuoco to pay $72,620. A second company managed by Fuoco, AFSL Group, was penalised $173,160.
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) secured the penalties after finding the companies underpaid four workers, including three visa holders from India and Nepal and one Australian passport holder, and took adverse action against two employees after they requested outstanding entitlements.
Migrant workers left without pay
The FWO was alerted to the situation and began its latest investigation after receiving requests for assistance from the four affected workers.
The employees had been employed in insurance, broking, and customer relationship management roles during 2021 and 2022. Three had been employed by Ansa Finance and one by AFSL Group.
The companies, both located in Toorak, Melbourne, were found to have underpaid them by failing to pay for some or all of the work they performed, as well as failing to meet entitlements under the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2020 and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards.
The underpayments included minimum hourly rates, public holiday work, annual and personal leave, notice of termination, and contractual wage entitlements. The highest individual underpayment was $14,336, owed to a 20-year-old university student.
One visa holder employed by AFSL Group received no pay for four months of work, despite being entitled to $6,884 in wages and entitlements.
The underpayments included minimum hourly rates, public holiday work, annual and personal leave, notice of termination and contractual wage entitlements. The highest individual underpayment was $14,336, owed to a 20-year-old university student.
One visa holder employed by AFSL Group received no pay for four months of work, despite being entitled to $6,884 in wages and entitlements.
In her penalty judgment, Judge Janine Young noted the worker had been unemployed for six months after being terminated for requesting outstanding entitlements.
She experienced “significant financial difficulty” and relied on money sent by her parents in India and loans from friends and family in Australia.
The worker also gave evidence that the experience was so upsetting she subsequently left the finance industry.
The companies also breached laws governing pay frequency and payslips and failed to comply with notices from a Fair Work Inspector to produce records or documents.
Fuoco was found to have been involved as an “accessory in most of the companies’ breaches,” the FWO said.
Judge Young found the breaches involved “deliberate” exploitation of vulnerable workers and criticised the “habitual non-compliance” of Fuoco and Ansa Finance.
Their conduct, she said, “demonstrates a disregard for the employees’ lawful statutory entitlements and a sustained willingness to prioritise their own interests at the expense of their employees’ entitlements and workplace rights, and a cavalier disregard for the integrity of the Fair Work regulatory system.”
Penalties to deter further breaches
The $478,880 of penalties reflected the “serious, deliberate, repeated, systematic and exploitative nature” of the contraventions, Judge Young said.
She also found penalties were needed to deter future breaches, including by Fuoco, given his past conduct and continuing role in multiple corporations.
“I accept the submission of the FWO that based on Mr Fuoco’s past conduct and his ongoing role in multiple corporations there is a real likelihood that he may employ staff again and that specific deterrence is required,” she added.
Past action
The latest penalties mark the third time the FWO has secured penalties against Ansa Finance and Fuoco. It is the first time penalties have been secured against AFSL Group.
In 2024, the FWO secured $99,900 in penalties against Ansa Finance and Fuoco across two separate legal actions over failures to backpay workers as required by compliance notices.
The latest penalties also follow action by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which secured a suspended jail sentence against Fuoco in 2025 for contempt of court.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth described the conduct in this particular case as “appalling”.
“There is no place in Australian workplaces for exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers, and employers who do so will face legal action and significant penalties,” Booth said.
“The termination of two of the workers for requesting payment of entitlements they were lawfully owed was appalling conduct. Neither we as the national regulator nor the courts tolerate such adverse action – workers have a right to raise inquiries or complaints about their pay without negative consequences.
“Visa holder workers have the same workplace rights as all other workers, and protections exist for their visa if they seek help.”
[Related: RAMS loses Federal Court battle over franchise termination]
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