Forum figure Bill Papas appears at Xanthi FC game in Greece despite arrest warrant

Photos show Xanthi FC owner Bill Papas at a weekend game in Greece despite a court warrant for his arrest.

Forum figure and Xanthi FC owner Bill Papas attended his team's game in the Greek city of Pierikos over the weekend.

Forum founder Bill Papas has appeared at his football team’s game on the weekend despite the looming threat of a warrant that has been issued for his extradition.

Photos posted online showed Mr Papas appeared at Xanthi FC’s game against Pierikos on Sunday in Katerini, a town an hour’s drive from Thessaloniki.

Mr Papas, who was believed to have briefly departed Greece, appeared relaxed, sitting with Anastasios Giamouridis, Xanthi FC’s CEO, who Westpac alleges received $10.7m in payments that he was not entitled to.

The game ended in a 1:1 draw after Pierikos equalised with a goal in the 80th minute of the game, snatching victory from Mr Papas’ team.

The first game of its regular season in the Greek second division, or Super League 2, comes as Westpac is seeking to secure Mr Papas’ arrest.

The bank is chasing Mr Papas after alleging he breached freezing orders imposed as part of its bid to claw back hundreds of millions it alleges he defrauded as part of rorted equipment leases.

The Federal Court made an order for Mr Papas’ arrest after finding him in contempt, after allegedly breaching freezing orders on his assets imposed by Westpac.

The bank had moved to freeze his assets once it became aware of the alleged fraud.

Mr Papas allegedly transferred $150,000 and $570,000 in two transactions to his cousin Eric Constantinidis.

Mr Papas ploughed almost $15m into Xanthi FC when he bought the club in late 2020.

He allegedly funnelled more money to Greece via front companies to fund ongoing expenditure at the club.

Forum figure and Xanthi FC owner Bill Papas attended his team's game in the Greek city of Pierikos over the weekend.

Westpac alleges the money used to buy the club was sourced from funds defrauded from the bank.

This may see Westpac the eventual owner of Xanthi FC or entitle the bank to funds from the sale of the club.

Westpac has reportedly been unable to contact Mr Papas in Greece, despite his phone number being handed over to the bank after the Federal Court ordered his ex-lawyers to reveal his contact details.

This comes after Westpac alleged Mr Papas closed his email accounts and deactivated his Australian mobile number which the bank had used to contact him.

Mr Papas arrived in Greece on June 21, with his girlfriend Louise Agostino joining him in the weeks following after securing permission to leave the country.

Photos from the Xanthi FC game show a woman looking like Ms Agostino standing behind Mr Papas.

The Federal Court has earlier heard Ms Agostino had booked flights for Mr Papas to return to Australia, however he was reportedly unable to return after contracting Covid-19.

The development comes as an agent has been appointed to sell Mr Papas’ sprawling luxury holiday home in the Central Coast enclave of Wagstaffe.

The home, stretching across two blocks on the waterfront Bulkara Street in Wagstaffe was allegedly purchased with funds derived from the Forum fraud.

A creditors report shows the companies that own the house were incorporated on 14 January 2019 and jointly owned by Mr Papas and his business partner Vincenzo Tesoriero.

The companies reportedly owe a combined $9.5m on loans on the property.

The sprawling property is not yet on the market, but offers any potential buyer four bedrooms and bathrooms across a sprawling 2,337m² house.

The case is due back in court on Friday for a case management hearing.

Additional reporting: John Stensholt