Fadi Ibrahim sues dentist Dr William ‘Bill’ Zafiropoulos for $4 million

The younger brother of Kings Cross boss John Ibrahim claims he asked his dentist to mind $11 million. Now he is locked in a legal battle over having it all returned.

Sydney identity Fadi Ibrahim claims he gave $11 million to his cosmetic dentist to hold for him in his bank account only for the man to spend it on property developments.

In a court case that shines a light on the big-time cash movements within the construction industry, the younger brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim is suing cosmetic dentist Dr William “Bill” Zafiropoulos for more than $4 million in the NSW Supreme Court.

Ibrahim claims in court documents that he “could not open a bank account” so he instead gave $11 million from a property development to Dr Zafiropoulos to hold.

He claims the dentist has failed to pay it all back and still owes him $4 million.

But Dr Zafiropoulos, who runs the temporarily closed Classic Smiles Dental in Miranda, claims he has repaid all his obligations to Ibrahim and has been subjected to threats and demands, which has led him to live in fear of physical harm and retribution.

Fadi Ibrahim is suing his cosmetic dentist. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Dentist Dr William Zafiropoulos.

The claims were contained in each man’s legal documents filed in the Supreme Court, which has been told the dispute centres on property developments worth tens of millions of dollars in Arncliffe, in Sydney’s south.

According to court documents, the two men became acquainted in 2012 when Ibrahim was a patient of Dr Zafiropoulos and had a cosmetic procedure performed.

But from there, each man’s version goes in a different direction.

Ibrahim claims in his document that in 2015, he was part of a business deal to receive at least $8 million from three Arncliffe developments in return for funding them to the tune of $1 million.

He claims to have sold his interest in the properties in 2018 to property developer, Fouad Deiri, for $12 million.

The only problem was: where would Ibrahim put the money?

Ibrahim’s statement of claim said that in January 2018, he “could not open a bank account”.

Ibrahim claims in his documents that Dr Zafiropoulos “offered to receive” Ibrahim’s money and hold it in his accounts in January 2018.

This led to three payments, totalling $11.85 million, being paid into the dentist’s accounts between April and May, 2018, Ibrahim’s documents claim.

One of the payments, for $3.9 million, was made by property developer and investor Greg Gav, the documents said.

Ibrahim’s documents claimed Dr Zafiropoulos repaid about $7 million of the money, which included making a $5 million payment to a business owned by Ibrahim’s friend, Ben Scott.

But Ibrahim claims the doctor has failed to repay more than $4.1 million, and is now pursuing him in court.

Before the legal action, the pair had meetings where Ibrahim issued demands for the money.

This included one at Oliver Brown Cafe in Beverly Hills in 2022 that was attended by longtime Ibrahim family bodyguard, Tongan Sam.

According to Ibrahim’s documents, the dentist asked for “15 weeks” to pay the money.

Tongan Sam and Fadi Ibrahim.

At a June 2022 meeting at Caffe Roma in Potts Point, Ibrahim claims that Dr Zafiropoulos admitted he owed the money but said he could not pay it because it was “tied up in property”.

Dr Zafiropoulos’ version is vastly different.

He claims he asked for the 15 weeks only “by reason of improper pressure and duress” and because he was “under fear of physical harm and retribution”.

The doctor also had a different version of how he came to be in possession of the millions.

Dr Zafiropoulos claimed the developers, Mr Deiri and Jamil Sayour (a relative of Ibrahim), paid him more than $7 million as a reward for tipping them off about one of the Arncliffe development sites and contributing $1 million.

Mr Sayour died from lung cancer on October 5, 2015,

In February 2018, the development company agreed to pay the $7 million to the dentist, Dr Zafiropoulos’ document said.

Dr Zafiropoulos’ defence statement gave no explanation as to why he owed the money to Ibrahim — or why his finder’s fee reward was so high — but detailed the dates and amounts of when he paid it back.

The dentist claimed that the only amount he still owed to Ibrahim was $1.7 million, but under their agreement he had until April 2025 to repay it.

Further complicating matters, Dr Zafiropoulos was successfully sued for the $7 million by the development company in the Supreme Court in 2021 and was ordered to pay it back.

Ibrahim declined to give evidence in the case.

In the present case, Dr Zafiropoulos said in his documents that he could not repay the money to Ibrahim because he had been ordered by the court to repay it to the developer.

In 2023, Dr Zafiropoulos was attacked with a hammer by masked men inside his practice while he was with a patient. There is no suggestion Mr Ibrahim was involved.

The matter continues.

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