Sydney tycoon Bill Papas vanishes as Federal Court proceedings are filed

Sydney tycoon  Basile Papadimitriou, known as Bill Papas, has gone missing after an alleged $254.5 million Westpac fraud.

Suspicions were raised after Westpac discovered an alleged fraud when Channel Seven-owned WesTrac applied for finance for office products with the bank in early June. The bank alleges that it had already provided financing for WesTrac via the Greek Australian entrepreneur’s business Forum Finance.

WesTrac confirmed that funds had been accessed via Forum Finance, owned by Mr Papas, for a loan of around $9 million under its name, however it had no record of obtaining the funds.

Further investigations followed and it was discovered that six more loan contracts financed by the bank allegedly showed assets financed which did not exist.

Equipment financier company Forum Finance, was created in 2011, to offer arranged lease financing from banks to clients for office supplies, equipment and software.

Apart from WesTrac, other clients of the business included Findex, HWL Ebsworth, the Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Smart Group.

Mr Papas failed to attend a meeting scheduled to discuss Westpac’s findings on 15 June, and the bank said that “since that time (he has) not been contactable or seen”.

The last contact that Westpac had with Mr Papas was on 10 June to discuss what was then thought to be “an anomaly” with WesTrac’s contacts, the bank said.

On Friday, a Sydney Olympic FC statement confirmed  the resignation of Mr Papas from the role of President.

The announcement came after it was made known by Westpac that it had filed a civil lawsuit against Mr Papas’ company over alleged potential fraud.

Federal Court proceedings have been filed, and European financial services group Societe Generale also sued Forum Finance for alleged fraud and potential losses estimated at around $9 million.

There is concern as Mr Papas has not filed a defence and has seemingly vanished.