Yesterday in the Federal Court in Melbourne, Henry Kaye, and National Investment Institute Pty Ltd, agreed not to publish any further advertisements promoting his "millionaires" property investment strategy, pending the final outcome of the court proceedings instituted by the ACCC.
At yesterday's directions hearing, Justice Goldberg obtained Mr Kaye's commitment that the radio and print media advertisements, which he said had been discontinued after the ACCC's action, would not reappear, and that internet advertising which was still running would be removed that afternoon.
"It is important that consumers not be exposed to this advertising until the court has determined the ACCC's claim that it is misleading," Mr Graeme Samuel, ACCC Chairman, said today.
The ACCC had instituted legal proceedings last week against Henry Kaye and NII alleging misleading and deceptive conduct over the promotion of a "millionaires" property investment strategy.
These advertisements claimed Mr Kaye could turn ordinary Australians into millionaires with no money down, no equity, no debt and a price protection guarantee that if the market were to go down they would not lose their money. He would do this by teaching them his property investment strategy.
However, the ACCC alleges that the strategies, such as NII's Investment Mastery Program, do not enable ordinary Australians to become millionaires, and that neither Mr Kaye nor NII had reasonable grounds for such claims.
It also alleges Mr Kaye and NII claimed that a thousand ordinary people who signed up and paid to be taught property investment strategies by Mr Kaye would become property millionaires within 12 months when neither Mr Kaye nor NII had reasonable grounds for making the representation.
The ACCC has alleged that NII solicits members of the public to enrol in the Investment Mastery Program for a fee of $15,000.
The trial date is expected to be fixed by the court tomorrow but is likely to be mid-March 2004.