Bill Papas does own Xanthi FC, Greek authorities say, despite telling Federal Court otherwise

The Forum Group boss will retain his ownership of Xanthi FC after Greek football authorities ruled he owned the club – despite earlier telling an Australian court the opposite.

Forum figure and Xanthi FC owner Bill Papas remains owner of Xanthi FC after Greek football authorities found no illegal funds had been used to buy the team.

Forum Group chief executive Bill Papas will maintain his grip on Greek football team Xanthi FC after officials ruled he owned the club – despite earlier telling an Australian court the opposite.

The Greek Professional Sports Committee ruled on Friday that Mr Papas continued to control the high profile Greek football team.

In a statement, the committee said “there was no illegal transfer of the shares” and “the data so far do not show the illegal origin of the money, which was allocated for the increase of the share capital of PAE Xanthi”.

Mr Papas was dragged before the committee late last year to explain statements he’d made to the Federal Court attesting that he’d sold his shares in the company which controlled the Greek Super League 2 side. Mr Papas had told the court he’d sold his shares in Mazcon, the company which owned Xanthi FC.

However, Greek media reports he “did not deny the authenticity of this document, however, he claimed that a statement made in the context of a civil case in an ongoing foreign court does not mean that it is true”.

Mr Papas allegedly masterminded a $500m fraud against Forum’s lenders Westpac, Sumitomo and Societe General. His local assets have subsequently been frozen, although liquidators recently sold his luxury Sydney home for around $4.4m.

Mr Papas fled to Greece after Westpac sought to unravel the alleged lease fraud scheme, with the bank subsequently seizing a string of assets tied to him and his alleged named co-conspirators – business partner Vincenzo Tesoriero and girlfriend Louise Agostino.

Mr Papas purchased Xanthi FC in 2020 for $15m, before funnelling at least €1.9m ($3.02m) to the team from funds he allegedly defrauded from the banks.

Xanthi FC, which Mr Papas chairs, welcomed decision by Greek football authorities.

“With the decisive contribution of the vice president of (Xanthi FC) and its legal representative, Fanis Ouzounidis, the truth shone before and any attempt to hurt our team fell into the void again,” Xanthi FC said in a statement posted online.

“The (Greek Committee for Professional Sports) stood up to the circumstances and judged on the basis of evidence despite the efforts of external and internal enemies who expected the opposite outcome.”

“We continue with even greater strength and faith the effort for the fulfilment of our goals and for the return of (Xanthi FC) to the position it deserves.“

The decision of the committee also opens the door to plans by Mr Papas to raise €4.72m through the issuance of new shares in Xanthi FC, diluting his stake in the club.

The 4.31 million shares, valued at €95 each, would have allowed him to scale back his stake in Xanthi FC.

However, Westpac is still seeking to freeze Mr Papas’ assets in Greece, securing leave from the Federal Court to seek freezing orders against him in the Hellenic Republic.

The continuing court action against Mr Papas is also likely to reach a head in the coming months, with Justice Michael Lee noting in a court hearing on Wednesday he was considering bringing the matter to trial at the start of June.