Westpac claims Bill Papas and Vincenzo Tesoriero planned Forum Finance fraud

The long-running Forum Finance alleged fraud case is nearing its conclusion, after Westpac wrapped up its arguments in the Federal Court on Thursday.

Vince Tesoriero with his lawyer outside court. Picture: Jane Dempster

Westpac has made its closing arguments in its case against alleged Forum Finance fraudster Bill Papas by questioning whether business partner Vincenzo Tesoriero knew the scale of the alleged $453m scheme or wilfully ignored the truth.

Appearing in court on Thursday, Westpac senior counsel Jeremy Stoljar said it was clear Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero had massively benefited from the alleged fraud scheme.

Westpac claims it and two other banks, Societe Generale and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, were systematically defrauded of huge sums of money over several years through fake lease contracts prepared using forged signatures.

The marathon case, which has dragged through the Federal Court since mid-2021, has seen Westpac attempt to prove Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero conspired, along with several other former members of the Forum Group, to defraud it.

Mr Stoljar said Mr Papas’ notebook, seized from his office after it was raided in mid-2021, showed he planned the fraud scheme and told Mr Tesoriero “everything you need to tell him”.

“It’s going to be virtually impossible for Mr Papas to get away with it without keeping Mr Tesoriero in the loop,” he said.

“That supports our proposition that Mr Papas namely, did everything in his note and told Vince everything.”

Mr Stoljar said Mr Tesoriero’s attempts to argue he was not aware of the alleged fraud clashed with the evidence shown to the court.

Justice Elizabeth Cheeseman heard Mr Tesoriero claimed he was not an employee of the Forum Group.

But several loan documents and tax returns put before the court showed Mr Tesoriero reporting an income tied to a role at the leasing firm.

“What it does show is that Mr Tesoriero’s evidence is highly unreliable,” Mr Stoljar said.

Mr Stoljar said the speed with which the Forum Group refinanced its debts with MAIA Financial, after the firm started questioning duplicate serial numbers, showed concern by Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero that the alleged fraud could be discovered.

“Any reasonable person in that position would have been, doubling, tripling, to check to ensure no fraud was taking place after the start of September 2018,” he said.