Forum director Vincenzo Tesoriero contests McGrathNicol bid to wind up nine companies

A man alleged to be a key figure in lease fraud scheme of the Forum Group of companies is set to square off with liquidators after McGrathNicol applied to wind up nine companies.

Forum Group founder Bill Papas.

A man alleged to be a key figure in lease fraud scheme of the Forum Group of companies is set to square off with liquidators after McGrathNicol applied to wind up nine companies on Thursday.

Vincenzo Tesoriero, who helped found the group and acted as company director of Forum entities, is contesting the claims by McGrathNicol that he was the beneficiary of funds allegedly gleaned from the fraud scheme. Mr Tesoriero is alleged to have been a key beneficiary in the $500m lease fraud scheme, which saw Westpac, Societe Generale, and Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation lend against office and industrial equipment that never existed.

Westpac has taken aim at Mr Tesoriero, alongside his business partner Bill Papas, alleging he defrauded the bank and demanding he pay back almost $300m.

Westpac alleges Mr Tesoriero accumulated a vast property empire with the allegedly defrauded funds. An affidavit by Mr Tesoriero reveals $60.7m worth of property holdings across 31 sites. These included 11 petrol stations, a cafe, and 10 residential sites.

The former Forum director also details a potential loan of “approximately 10m in value” he alleges is owing to him or an entity he is associated with.

“I also believe that there are intercompany/trust loans within the group of which ultimately, I may be a beneficiary,” he said.

McGrathNicol, liquidators of the Forum Group, are understood to have written to Mr Tesoriero in recent weeks demanding the return of millions allegedly provided by the lease fraud to finance the purchase of property sites.

However, Mr Tesoriero is understood to have rejected McGrathNicol’s statutory demands.

In response McGrathNicol has now moved to wind up nine companies.

The companies include several investment vehicles for Mr Tesoriero detailed in his affidavits.

They also include a petrol station in the Victorian town of Ouyen worth $900,000, which had a $540,000 mortgage, and another site in the town of Rushworth worth $1.35m, with a $810,000 loan. McGrathNichol has also made a claim on a company controlling a site in Melbourne worth $8m, which is held with a $7m mortgage to Judo bank. The company controlling Mr Papas’ former home in Sydney has also been targeted.

Mr Tesoriero will need to contest the attempts to wind up the companies in court.