XOXO yacht, property to be sold as Westpac chase of Forum assets grows

Westpac has moved to sell a yacht and property linked to an alleged $400m fraud.

The luxury XOXO yacht owned by Forum Finance figure Vincenzo Tesoriero and 12 properties linked to four of his companies will be sold, as Westpac’s fraud action against the company and its directors ramps up.

Liquidators McGrathNichol secured the order in the Federal Court of Australia on Friday in their bid to claw back more assets associated with the alleged fraud Westpac claims Mr Tesoriero and his business partner Bill Papas perpetrated.

Judge Michael Lee ordered Mangusta (Vic) Pty Ltd be placed into liquidation after it emerged the entity had been given the ownership of the XOXO yacht for $1 by Mr Tesoriero.

The yacht, which is moored in Miami, had been bought by Mr Tesoriero in 2018 for $US900,000 and placed under the ownership of the Forum company Intrasheild.

The court heard Mr Tesoriero transferred its ownership to the Mangusta entity - which appears to be named after the yacht’s model Mangusta 105 - in 2019 for $1.

However, Mr Tesoriero’s senior counsel Greg McNally said the transfer had included “consideration paid at various stages” paid by Mangusta, but he couldn’t specify exact amounts.

Mangusta is registered to the address of Mastin Harris Accountants in Hawthorn East.

This comes after Mr Tesoriero failed to declare ownership of the yacht in his affidavit of assets tendered to the court, in which his collection of fast cars and property around Australia was detailed.

Westpac is pursuing Mr Papas, Forum and Mr Tesoriero for almost $300m alleging widespread fraud and forgeries of customer signatures at the equipment leasing company.

Justice Lee said despite points noted by Mr Tesoriero ’s counsel that the sale of the Yacht “may be more complex” than the $1 transaction indicated, a sale of the yacht was necessary “in order to realise the assets”.

Justice Lee also made orders that four companies which owned property in NSW, Victoria, and Queensland be sold.

The court moved to dismiss orders seeking liquidators be appointed to the company controlled by Mr Tesoriero which owned Mr Papas’ Rozelle, Sydney residence.

Westpac’s barrister James Arnott said they had reached agreement with Mr Tesoriero to sell the property.

Moves by McGrathNicol to gain permission for Westpac to boost the budget to fund the liquidation of the Forum Group and its many entities were, however, questioned by Justice Lee.

He said he didn‘t want unnecessary legal costs being incurred in the case by McGrathNicol, which would be “unfair for the creditors” of Forum and its related entities. That was part of Justice Lee’s reasoning for not granting orders for Westpac’s funding agreement for the liquidators, without specific revisions.

“Ultimately there will be some mechanism ... the legal expenses incurred by someone who is acting as an officer of the court are within the power of the court to control,” he added.

The Rozelle residence of Forum Finance managing director Basille Papadimitriou, aka Bill Papas.

“I don‘t want it to be thought that simply because the expenses can be paid without there being oversight other than simply the liquidators ... I just want the liquidators to be aware that at some stage there’ll be scrutiny on the amount of legal costs that are incurred in relation to this matter.”

Friday’s hearing comes after the bank brought forward action to block Mr Tesoriero selling the property warning it had been advertised for a $3m sale price despite being bought in 2018 for $4.1m.

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.

Societe Generale and SMBC Leasing and Finance also have civil court action underway against Forum, Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero, with the total fraud being alleged amounting to $400m.