On the trail of Bill Papas and Westpac’s missing $285m
Westpac is scrambling to find the man believed to be behind one of the most elaborate and costly frauds in the bank’s history.
Former Sydney Olympic president Bill Papas and Forum Group CEO after his UK company waste management company Iugis secured a partnership with Liverpool FC.
Nick O’Brien is an old-school relationship banker. His lifelong Westpac career began in 1989, years before the early ’90s recession almost tipped the nation’s oldest lender into insolvency. He probably thought he’d seen just about everything in his industry.
But after a routine call with a treasury operative at WesTrac, a supplier of earth-moving machinery owned by the Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven Group, he found himself at ground zero of another pending crisis.
Max MasonSenior courts and crime reporterMax Mason covers financial crime, courts and corporate wrongdoing. A Walkley Award winner, Max’s journalism has also received awards from the National Press Club of Australia, the Kennedy Awards and Citibank. Message Max on Signal https://tinyurl.com/MaxMason Connect with Max on Twitter. Email Max at max.mason@afr.com
Jonathan ShapiroSenior reporterJonathan Shapiro writes about banking and finance, specialising in hedge funds, corporate debt, private equity and investment banking. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter. Email Jonathan at jonathan.shapiro@afr.com
