Dashdot customers urged to proceed days before collapse

Dashdot encouraged customers to proceed days before collapse as liquidators examine insolvency timeline Mon 15 Jun 2026 at 4:45am In short: Buyer's agency Dashdot, which collapsed in May, has estimated liabilities of $16.6 million but just $71,000 in estimated realisable assets, according to an initial liquidators' notice obtained by ABC News. The liabilities include $10.6 million in prepaid services or refunds it owes almost 700 customers. What's next? Liquidators are investigating Dashdot's affairs and are expected to release a report to creditors within three months. Customers were still being encouraged to proceed with Dashdot's property investment services just days before the buyer's agency entered voluntary liquidation, according to emails and messages obtained by ABC News. The communications do not prove any wrongdoing occurred. But they raise fresh questions about what was happening inside the company in the weeks before its collapse, and whether prospective customers were being encouraged to commit to significant up-front fees while the business was approaching insolvency. One prospective customer, Daniel, who asked for his surname to be withheld for privacy reasons, had signed an agreement with Dashdot in early May but had not yet paid the company's up-front fee of about $21,000. After being prompted to pay the outstanding invoice, he told Dashdot he wanted to pause and reconsider, concerned about property tax changes, which were announced after he signed the contract. But in an email sent three days before Dashdot announced it was entering voluntary liquidation, a company representative encouraged him to rethink that decision. "Sometimes the headlines can make it feel like the underlying investment fundamentals have shifted dramatically," the email read. "In our experience, the biggest risk often isn't market volatility itself, it's allowing uncertainty to delay the actions that move us toward the goals we originally set out to achieve." The email said there would "always be reasons to wait" and offered to arrange a call before Daniel made a final decision. Daniel said he ultimately decided not to proceed. "I was very close," he said. "They were very confident. There was not a single indication of anything bad that was going to happen." For existing customers, the collapse has had far more serious consequences. Sydney-based David Meehan, who had purchased investment properties before, said he paid Dashdot $23,100 in April after being attracted by the company's online content and what he described as its "all-inclusive" model. Seven weeks later, the company entered voluntary liquidation. "Just out-of-the-blue shock," he said. "We had only spoken to the employees in a strategy session the week before, so it was out of the blue." The 44-year-old estimates the loss has effectively set him back by a year's worth of superannuation. "If you know the Titanic ship is going down, why are you taking on more passengers?" he asked. "That's the hardest part about all this." He said he was also surprised to continue receiving emails from CEO Glenn "Goose" McGrath after the company went into liquidation, offering introductions to other buyer's agents through what he called a "partner pathway". After the liquidators were appointed, the powers of Dashdot's directors were suspended. However, the ABC has seen five emails sent after the appointment from Mr McGrath using Dashdot branding and the title "CEO". The emails directed customers to a liquidator email address that appeared to be associated with Dashdot, rather than the liquidators' official Teneo email address. Joint liquidator Rebecca Gill told ABC News she was "aware" of Mr McGrath's actions, and noted he was not making any commitments on behalf of the company. Mr McGrath told the ABC he had helped connect clients with other buyer's agents willing to credit some or all of the fees they had paid Dashdot against future services. "Neither we nor any related party has received any incentive from the firms involved," he said. Another prospective customer, Karl, who did not want his surname published, said the company contacted him less than a week before it entered voluntary liquidation. Karl said he had previously registered for a market report and was contacted over the phone on May 22 to discuss whether he remained interested in property investment opportunities. A follow-up text message seen by ABC News thanked him for his time and included links to Dashdot material, including an investment tool, a video from the company’s chief executive, customer reviews and analysis of the federal budget. Karl decided not to proceed. Dashdot Pty Ltd entered voluntary liquidation on May 28. What the law says Under Australian company law, directors have a duty to prevent a company from incurring debts while it is insolvent, or if taking on additional debts would make the company insolvent. Legal experts say accepting customer payments shortly before a liquidation is not, by itself, unlawful. The key question is whether Dashdot was insolvent, or at risk of becoming insolvent, when it accepted payments or entered into obligations with customers, and what its directors knew or suspected at the time. University of Sydney corporate law professor Jason Harris said the timing of the communications could become significant if the company knew it was heading into liquidation and would be unable to provide the services being sold. "If you know the company is insolvent, or even if you just suspect it and you still keep incurring obligations and soliciting deposits for the provision of services that you then know you're not going to provide, that could be a criminal offence,"Professor Harris said. The liquidators' initial notice issued on June 11, 2026, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, noted Teneo had contact with Dashdot's advisers from May 15, almost two weeks before the company entered liquidation, to discuss the company's position and its potential options. Taking insolvency advice does not itself mean a company has decided to shut down. Companies in financial distress are expected to seek professional advice. Professor Harris said another potential issue could arise if money was obtained on the promise of services that the company knew would not be delivered. "If you know you're going into liquidation and you're still collecting money, knowing that you're not going to be providing a service, there's a possibility that that's gaining a financial advantage by deception," he said. Professor Harris cautioned that proving insolvent trading could be difficult and would depend on evidence about the company's financial position and what directors knew at the relevant time. He said directors might also have legal defences if they were attempting to restructure the business or acting on professional insolvency advice. Liquidators examining key questions The initial report identified more than 700 creditors with almost $14 million in unsecured claims. Of those, 695 were customers owed a combined $10.6 million for prepaid services and refunds. The report suggests these customers are facing a steep recovery battle, with liquidators estimating just $71,000 in realisable assets against total known liabilities of almost $16.6 million (which includes the $10.6 million owed to customers). The liquidator's report identified a substantial loan of more than $3 million owed to Dashdot Pty Ltd by a related entity, Global Proptech Operations Pty Ltd. Both companies share the same directors. The liquidators say they are investigating the recoverability of that loan, although they note the directors have indicated it is unlikely. Legal experts say related-party loans are not unusual or unlawful in themselves, but liquidators would be expected to examine whether the transaction was in Dashdot Pty Ltd's interests, whether proper records exist, and whether the loan is recoverable. In response to questions by ABC News, Mr McGrath, who co-founded Dashdot with Gabi Billing, said they were "genuinely sorry" for the impact on creditors, but rejected "any claim or insinuation" that they had misappropriated funds or acted deceitfully. He said they had personally invested and reinvested the "significant majority" of their personal wealth in the business and had "lost almost everything". In an open letter published when the company went into liquidation, Mr McGrath noted that the business had been in "great health" as recently as late February but was hit by worsening economic conditions, property tax uncertainty and rising advertising costs. He said Dashdot's marketing was too reliant on paid advertising and its balance sheet "wasn’t robust enough" to withstand the external shocks. Company structure may affect creditor recoveries ASIC records show Dashdot Pty Ltd, the buyer's agency now in liquidation, sat within a broader corporate group. Teneo has only been appointed over Dashdot Pty Ltd, not the related entities. Several of the companies appear closely connected, with Dashdot Pty Ltd appearing to hold the shares in a number of the entities and sharing common directors, including founders Mr McGrath and Ms Billing. Professor Harris said that meant the value of those related companies could potentially still be relevant to creditor recoveries. "If those companies have value, then the shares owned by Dashdot Pty Ltd may also have value," he said. However, the position could also be complicated by any debts or claims between the companies. Separately, company records show that in February 2024, almost all of Dashdot Pty Ltd's ordinary shares were transferred to G Squared Holdings Limited, an entity listed with an address in the British Virgin Islands. The liquidators' initial report does not identify the beneficial owners of G Squared. In a statement to ABC News, Mr McGrath sought to address questions about "our personal shareholdings", saying his and Ms Billing's personal shareholding entity was "nothing more than" the structure chosen for personal reasons to hold their shares. He did not identify that entity in the statement. "We did not move a single asset, any intellectual property, or any value out of Australia,"he said. He also said there had been "no asset stripping at all ever, no extraordinary payments to our personally held entities, and not even a single dividend paid in over 24 months". The directors of the other entities in the group, in consultation with the group's secured creditor, are exploring the possibility of a sale of the group's assets to a third party. A search of the Personal Property Securities Register reveals Mighty Partners Borrower Pty Ltd holds a registered security interest over Dashdot Pty Ltd and several related entities. Calls for greater scrutiny of buyer's agents The collapse has renewed debate about whether Australia's rapidly growing buyer's agent industry is adequately regulated, particularly as more firms expand nationally and charge large fees before services are delivered. Melinda Jennison, president of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA), said Dashdot's business model was not representative of the broader industry and warned consumers to carefully research any buyer's agent before handing over money. "It's really important for all buyers to do their due diligence on the buyer's agent they're choosing to partner with," she said. Ms Jennison said the buyer's agent sector had changed rapidly in recent years, with some firms operating across multiple states and relying heavily on online marketing to attract clients. "The buyer's agent industry, in terms of its rate of growth, has outpaced the regulatory environment within which it operates," she said. Unlike traditional real estate agencies, many buyer's agents now operate nationally, purchasing property across multiple jurisdictions with different licensing and compliance requirements. "The issue is that because we have a lot of borderless buyer's agents purchasing across multiple states, quite often buyer's agents, generally speaking, themselves don't know the legislation that they need to follow, and consumers are unaware that many buyer's agents do not have the appropriate licence to be operating within every jurisdiction around the country." Property economist Cameron Kusher said Dashdot's fee structure appeared unusual and could leave consumers exposed if a business failed before services were provided. Mr Kusher said Dashdot's collapse might also reflect broader pressures facing parts of the property investment industry. He said many buyer's agencies had emerged during a prolonged housing boom and might now be confronting a tougher operating environment as higher interest rates, weaker consumer confidence and proposed changes to property tax settings weighed on investor demand. "I think a lot of people will be looking at their business models and how they refine that, and how they manage through these tax changes that look very likely that they're going to happen," he said.