Forum Finance boss Bill Papas suspected of shifting funds into personal accounts

Bill Papas is suspected of transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars from his businesses to personal bank accounts in the weeks before Westpac lodged a fraud action.

Bill Papas pictured in Thessaloniki, Greece, last week.

Forum Finance boss Bill Papas is suspected of making several transfers totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his businesses to personal bank accounts in the four weeks before Westpac lodged a damning fraud action against him, according to sources.

The Australian understands the bulk of transfers were allegedly made in June, the same month that Mr Papas missed a meeting in Perth to answer WesTrac’s questions over discrepancies with a leasing account, citing ill health.

He then on June 21 arrived in Greece, where he is still residing, with Mr Papas most recently telling the Federal Court he did not have the funds to pay for a return plane fare given his accounts were now frozen. Prior to that, Mr Papas submitted to the court a positive Covid-19 test blaming that and technology issues for his inability to file an affidavit of his assets.

The latest revelations about Mr Papas’s transfers of money to his personal accounts mean he allegedly had access to large sums ahead of Westpac seeking and being granted asset and account freezing orders by the court in early July. The bank lodged the action with the Federal Court on June 28 alleging fraud of about $300m against Forum, Mr Papas and fellow director Vincenzo Tesoriero.

French Bank Societe Generale and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have separate actions against Forum underway, with the three cases amounting to alleged fraud of $400m.

Liquidators of a long list of Forum entities have kicked off the sale of some assets linked to the company’s directors. Last week, orders were made for the sale of the luxury XOXO yacht owned by Mr Tesoriero, as well as 12 properties linked to four of his companies.

Separately, the latest filings made to the corporate regulator this week show McGrathNicol has returned a luxury Porsche sports car previously owned and raced by Mr Papas, but for no financial gain.

McGrathNicol lodged a notice of disclaimer of onerous property form with the corporate regulator late on Wednesday listing the details of the Porsche worth an estimated $600,000.

The car’s lease – which was with Macquarie Group – is understood to have been discontinued and the car returned, given it was financed to close to the maximum amount

A Porsche GT2 RS similar to that leased by Bill Papas, which is being returned to Macquarie.

With much of the lease still to be paid, McGrathNicol would have been unable to make a profit from the sale of the car.

The 2018 model GT2 RS Porsche has been described by the German car manufacturer as one of the fastest road-legal sports cars in the world. Mr Papas is understood to have bought the car in Sydney in 2019.

Mr Papas and his solicitor Rocco Panetta did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment about the bank transfer claims and the former’s assets.

The fraud allegations by the three banks relate to forged signatures on lease contracts, and instances where finance was sought by Forum to purchase goods to lease where the loans were granted but no evidence of the assets exists.

The court action comes as investigations by the prudential regulator into the alleged fraud, which on some analyst estimates has wiped 3 per cent of Westpac’s full-year profits, continue.

A freedom of information request to the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority reveals there are six documents regarding the alleged fraud.

APRA denied access to the files, noting they were “protected documents” and a result of Westpac’s disclosure of the alleged fraud to the regulator.

APRA FOI officer Nicky Tran in a letter said the documents had been “given or produced under or for the purposes of a prudential regulation framework law, and containing information relating to the affairs of a financial sector entity”.

“The relevant documents were given or produced and disclosed or obtained under, or for the purposes of, this prudential regulation framework law,” Ms Tran said.

“Therefore, the documents are protected documents unless otherwise publicly available.”

Last month, Westpac made a $300m individually assessed provision in its accounts for “one large exposure”. That reflects the alleged fraud by Forum against Westpac.

Mr Papas is a Sydney soccer identity, who was known to drive a Bentley and two Porsches. Up until Westpac’s legal action became public, Mr Papas was Sydney Olympic Football Club’s president.