The mud map and escape plan that upended a $500 million fraud

An on-the-run businessman left behind smoking-gun evidence of his $500 million fraud before he took off to Greece, a court has found.

Bill Papas committed an “audacious fraud” setting up an elaborate scheme to defraud Westpac and other lenders by impersonating major clients and forging the signature of senior executives.

Bill Papas in Greece.Credit: 60 Minutes

It netted Papas and his business associates hundreds of millions of dollars, but a Federal Court finding on Friday paves the way for Westpac to try and claw back some of the money by forcing the sale of numerous properties jointly owned by Papas and his Melbourne-based business partner Vince Tesoriero, and to enforce the civil judgment in Greece against Papas to claim his assets in that country.

In handing down her long-awaited judgment on the 2021 civil suit, Justice Elizabeth Cheeseman found Papas had left behind a notebook at the offices of Forum Finance that included a plan for the scheme and notes to himself.

Cheeseman found Tesoriero – a race car enthusiast and cafe owner – and Papas’ girlfriend Louise Agostino had knowledge of the fraud against Westpac and two other major banks, Sumitomo and Société Générale.

“Papas made notes in a notebook that was seized during the execution of a search warrant at Mr Papas’ Sydney office. In that notebook, he sketched a mud map of the fundamental aspects of the fraudulent scheme, and in which he also included reference to his overseas escape,” the judge said.

“Included on the second page of the two critical pages in which the fraudulent scheme is detailed, is a notation: ‘Tell Vince everything you need to tell him’.”

Tesoriero has been alleged by Westpac to have received more than $80 million in cash and property as part of the scheme. The civil judgment means they can now claim back some of the money, with a spokesman for the bank saying it welcomed the judgment and would review it.

No criminal charges have been laid against any person in the case, but NSW Police is investigating the matter.

Before the scheme was uncovered, Forum Finance was a fast-growing business with interests in various companies including a waste processing group that was, for a short period of time, a jersey sponsor of Liverpool FC.

Vince Tesoriero at an earlier hearing during the Forum Finance matter. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Papas fled to Greece shortly before he was to be confronted about the scheme by Westpac. He has never returned to Australia and did not file a defence in the matter.

He told this masthead in March 2022: “I do intend to address the matters raised at an appropriate time but for now, my primary focus is my health.”

Pages from Bill Papas’ notebook that he left behind in the Forum Finances offices before fleeing to Greece.

An investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes uncovered Papas in Greece, seemingly healthy and enjoying the high life, including attending matches for the soccer team he purchased using Westpac’s money, Xanthi FC.

In her judgment, Cheeseman described the scheme as “an audacious fraud”, with Papas impersonating the banks’ major clients – including Coles, Woolworths, Veolia, Scentre and Westpac.

“All parties, including the respondents, who were alleged to have the requisite knowledge of the fraud, proceeded on the basis that the fraud and Mr Papas’ involvement in it was established.”

“The position taken by the respondents in this regard was realistic. It reflected the strength of the evidence establishing the fraud. The principal perpetrator of the fraud was Mr Bill Papas.”

Cheeseman told the court she was also able to establish Tesoriero, Agostino and another Forum executive, Tony Bouchahine, knew of the fraudulent scheme because they were aware Papas had changed banking partners in 2018 when confronted with complaints that $58 million of loans were allegedly fraudulent. The trio had all denied knowledge of the scheme.

Westpac was the only bank to pursue claims against Tesoriero, Agostino and Bouchahine. The bank has previously alleged that Tesoriero received $28 million in cash as part of the scheme.

The bank has also alleged that Tesoriero and Papas made significant property investments with the then Sydney-based Papas using the proceeds of fraud.

This masthead previously revealed the pair had built up a $60 million-plus property portfolio that included several country petrol stations. The duo also allegedly used money taken from Westpac to buy Tesoriero’s $9 million-plus stately residence in Melbourne’s Hawthorn and two high-end holiday homes in Wagstaffe, on the NSW central coast.

Despite the sale of some of the properties owned by Tesoriero and Papas, little money has flowed to the defrauded banks, with many of the properties heavily encumbered with other mortgages before the scheme was uncovered by a client of Westpac.

The Hawthorn home quietly sold in late 2023 as a mortgagee in possession for $9.36 million. The two waterfront properties in NSW were also sold as mortgagee in possession in 2022, netting a combined $25 million.

The portfolio of petrol stations located in small Victorian towns has also largely been sold by liquidators to the original seller, who provided vendor financing that was never repaid by Papas or Tesoriero’s entities.

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