Secret notes reveal Forum Finance founder Bill Papas’s escape plan

Forum Finance founder Bill Papas was planning his escape and used a secret notebook to allegedly practice forging signatures of customers.

Forum CEO Bill Papas's racing Audi.

Forum Finance founder Bill Papas used a secret notebook to allegedly practise forging customers’ signatures, and made reference in it to needing an escape plan if serious fraud action emerged, according to sources.

The notebook was kept at Forum’s Sydney head office and seized in a raid of the company’s offices in late June. It is among potentially explosive material that Westpac’s legal team is sifting through as it builds a detailed fraud case against Mr Papas and the equipment leasing company.  Westpac has started legal action in the Federal Court relating to losses of about $300m from alleged forged and fraudulent leasing contracts overseen by Forum and Mr Papas. The notebook was unearthed when Corrs Chambers Westgarth, an independent legal firm in the case, was sent in to seize material from Forum‘s offices that might be relevant to Westpac’s case.

Sources said the notebook’s contents included an array of signatures – allegedly forged to consummate leasing contracts for equipment. They said there was a written reference to “fraudulent contracts” in the notebook, which also mentioned the need for an escape plan, should parties cotton on to what was occurring with the contracts.

CYTER, an independent firm sent in to seize computers and electronic material, is understood to have found several files of interest to Westpac, which is scouring bank accounts and other records to follow the money trail. Computers, laptops and iPads were among the material seized as part of the legal process initiated by Westpac.

Mr Papas did not respond to requests for comment, or to a request made to his solicitor. Westpac declined to comment.

The bank is one of three pursuing Forum and Mr Papas in the Federal Court over alleged fraud. Westpac is also targeting fellow Forum director Vincenzo Tesoriero. French bank Societe Generale and Japan‘s SMBC Leasing and Finance have separate cases under way. Combined, the three actions seek to retrieve $400m.

Affidavits by Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero were made public earlier this month, revealing an empire of fast cars, houses and business interests spanning the globe.

Mr Papas said in his affidavit he couldn’t hand over copies of his communications between himself, EQWE’s director Luke Price, and a customer and “any representative of a customer“ in relation to a payment schedule with Forum Finance. He said that was because he did not have the mobile phone called for in the search orders.

“I believe the mobile phone with those records is either at my home at 23 Margaret St Rozelle NSW or at another property at 5 Bulkara St Wagstaffe NSW,” he said.

Mr Papas remains in Greece after arriving there in June and telling the court in July he could not return to Sydney due to testing positive for Covid-19. More recently, he has requested funds be released to enable him to purchase a return plane ticket to Australia.

Mr Papas’s and Mr Tesoriero‘s assets in Australia and globally have been frozen.

On Wednesday, Westpac lodged a new statement of claim in its case which added further respondents to the action, including Mr Papas‘s business partner in Greece.

Westpac alleges Anastasios Giamouridis benefited from fraudulent transactions involving a string of businesses headed and owned by Mr Papas, including Forum and food waste digester firm Iugus.

Mr Papas and Mr Giamouridis own 99 per cent and 1 per cent respectively of Mazcon, the investment vehicle that is the majority owner of Greek second division soccer club Xanthi and several properties.

Mazcon invested €15m in Xanthi when it took control of the club last November. Mr Giamouridis is understood to have been chief executive of the soccer club, which failed to win promotion to the top Greek Super League earlier this year. Mr Papas’s executive assistant Eloise Orlandini is also caught up in court action against the company and her former boss, with Societe Generale alleging she may have knowingly submitted fraudulent documents.

Ms Orlandini is not a respondent in the Societe Generale case against Forum, but is named in the bank’s statement of claim.

NSW Police’s Financial Crimes Squad is pushing ahead with a probe into Mr Papas after being alerted to the alleged fraud.

NSW Police referred their inquiries to the Financial Crimes Squad in late July, after authorities were earlier told of allegations of fraudulent activity linked to Forum leases for items such as printers.

Westpac has reported allegations to NSW Police, the banking regulator and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The bank has briefed ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on the alleged fraud and why it wasn’t identified earlier.