A luxury car scammer has been found in contempt of a freezing order imposed by the County Court in a civil case involving a missing McLaren sports car, a $250,000 loan and a spending spree in Las Vegas.
Andreas Triantafyllos is accused of leasing the black McLaren 720S, using it to secure a loan from a Sydney pawnbroker, then repeatedly failing to tell the court what happened with the car or the money.
Andreas Triantafyllos, pictured here at a 2018 court appearance, has been found in contempt of a freezing order.
His dire financial situation and extravagant spending habits have been laid bare in court documents, including the purchase of two homes in Essendon and Aberfeldie on consecutive days in August 2023 for a total of $12.45 million.
Triantafyllos, who also goes by Andrew and Jason and switches his surname to Trianafyllou or Triantos, defaulted on the purchase of both properties and provided an affidavit to the court on October 26 stating he only had $12,000 in assets, while his latest company owed $650,000.
Over the past 20 years, the 46-year-old has been linked to almost 20 businesses, which hired out prestige cars but routinely refused to return security deposits of up to $35,000.
Corporate regulators and law enforcement agencies have been unable to stop him from repeatedly placing his debt-laden companies into liquidation, transferring assets and opening new businesses.
Triantafyllos – who was declared bankrupt in 2018, owing $5.8 million to the Australian Tax Office – conceals his involvement in many of the companies by using “dummy directors” including his elderly mother and a former exotic dancer from Kittens strip club.
He established his latest venture, Cast Group Australia, in October 2021, when he initially appointed his wife as director, before replacing her two months later when released from bankruptcy.
According to legal documents, Triantafyllos signed a contract in September 2023 to lease the McLaren for three weeks and agreed to pay $42,000 to the vehicle’s owner.
A McLaren 720s that was leased by luxury car dealer Andreas Triantafyllos, then used as security for a $250,000 loan, but has since vanished.
On September 16, Triantafyllos signed another contract to sell the McLaren for $250,000 to a Sydney-based pawnbroker operating under the name Prostrength. Under the deal, he retained an option to purchase the luxury car back after three months.
“The vehicle was never delivered to Prostrength and the defendants [Cast Group and Triantafyllos] have not repaid the $250,000,” according to court documents.
The car has since been re-registered in NSW and transferred to a Sydney woman without the knowledge or consent of the original owner in Melbourne.
The owner of Prostrength launched legal action against Triantafyllos in October. A freezing order was subsequently approved by the court to stop Triantafyllos from disposing or diminishing the value of his assets by up to $350,000.
Triantafyllos was also instructed by the court to provide an affidavit regarding the purchase, ownership or sale of the McLaren and what he had done with the $250,000.
He failed to provide the court with an affidavit, but was also found to have drained more than $694,000 between October 23 and November 10 from three bank accounts linked to Cast Group but not declared to the court.
One of Triantafyllos’ payments was for items purchased at the front desk of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.
County Court Judge Suzanne Kirton said in her ruling on February 27 that Triantafyllos had “wilfully and persistently breached the freezing order since 21 October 2023”.
“It is impossible to think of any explanation for this conduct other than it is the most egregious flaunting of the court’s orders.”
Triantafyllos will face court again on Wednesday over the contempt finding and could face a term of imprisonment over his failure to comply with its orders.
When contacted by The Age, Triantafyllos said he was the victim of an ongoing extortion plot, following an arson attack on his Essendon home in May and separate firebombings of two car wash businesses and a restaurant he owns.
Andreas Triantafyllos’ home was firebombed in May.Credit: Paul Rovere
Triantafyllos said the threats had prevented him from appearing before the court or providing affidavits.
“I could not give names, I could not give evidence because my life is threatened,” he said.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed it was investigating the alleged extortion and executed search warrants at properties in South Yarra, South Melbourne and Essendon on August 29.
A 30-year-old Essendon woman and a 34-year-old South Yarra man were arrested by police and interviewed, but no charges have been laid.
The contempt finding is not the first time Triantafyllos has failed to comply with a court order.
In 2022, he was fined $4250 after refusing to provide evidence as required by two statutory notices issued by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
CAV had issued a warning in 2018 regarding his former luxury car hire company after receiving 46 complaints about security deposits that were not returned in a “timely manner, or at all”.
“You should be very cautious before dealing with Melbourne Luxury Car Hire,” former CAV director Simon Cohen warned at the time.
Andrew Triantafyllos outside his previous home in Strathmore in 2018.Credit: Daniel Pockett
They had previously taken court action against Triantafyllos and another company, VIP Executive Car Rentals, in 2005, when he was ordered to pay back almost $300,000 in deposits.
Despite the occasional court appearance, Triantafyllos has continued to rort unsuspecting clients and several investors in his businesses.
Former BHP chief executive John Prescott.Credit: Philip Gostelow
His victims include former BHP chief executive John Prescott, overseas visitors, couples hiring prestige cars for their weddings, and the parents of a boy suffering from a terminal illness.
He was recently linked to a new scam involving the purchase of luxury vehicles that are often under finance to non-bank lenders.
In February, Triantafyllos purchased a BMW M3 from a Melbourne panel beater and purportedly paid $150,000 to a company that financed the car.
The finance company initially confirmed receipt of the funds, but the transfer subsequently bounced. The panel beater, who asked not to be identified after reporting the matter to police, said he was given a string of excuses.
“We contacted Andreas and received every excuse under the sun: his ex-wife stopped the payment, he was borrowing the money from a private lender that hadn’t gone through, and he then pretended he went to the bank multiple times and provided fake payment receipts,” he said.
“He is a scammer, a liar, and he just keeps lying as this has now gone on for over six months.”
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