New details of Westpac’s Forum fraud emerge
Westpac has accused colourful soccer identity Bill Papas’
Forum Finance of forging signatures of staff at French giant Veolia’s New
Zealand offices on faked contracts that extracted an additional $44 million
from the bank.
The bank has also stepped up its claim for Mr Papas’
overseas assets, expanding its claims for damages to the Greek company that
holds much of Mr Papas’ identified overseas assets, Mazcon, alleging it
received as much as $16 million as part of the allegedly fraudulent scheme.
The documents also shine a light on the large sums of money
received by Mr Papas’ Australian business partner, Vince Tesoriero, alleging he
received $28 million in cash — a payment which excludes the massive property
portfolio he accrued with Mr Papas during the allegedly fraudulent scheme.
Westpac this week expanded its claim against Mr Papas to
include a separate legal action it had been taking in New Zealand against
Forum’s NZ entities and Mr Papas.
Westpac has further added 21 new companies owned by Mr Papas
and Mr Tesoriero. Eighteen of these companies were already subject to freezing
orders and own a portfolio of luxury property and petrol stations in regional
Victoria.
Westpac’s 544-page court filing details its allegations
against the business partners.
“The total amount that Westpac and WNZL [Westpac New
Zealand] have identified as being fraudulently obtained by Mr Papas directly or
indirectly through his involvement in the scheme is at least $40.225 million,
which excludes funds fraudulently obtained and used to acquire other property
such as boats and cars,” the document says.
In July, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that
Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero had purchased property worth $60 million allegedly
using money defrauded from Westpac. This masthead also revealed Mr Papas’
overseas assets including two seaside apartments in Thessaloniki said to be
worth $10 million and a vast number of cars including two racing Audis.
Westpac alleges Mr Tesoriero received $2.3 million from
Forum directly into his bank account, including instances where Forum made
multiple transfers on a single day.
“The total amount that Westpac and Westpac New Zealand have
currently identified as being fraudulently obtained by Mr Tesoriero through his
involvement in the scheme is $28.478 million, which excludes funds fraudulently
obtained and used to acquire other property such as boats and cars,” the lender
claims.
Mr Tesoriero, a café owner in Melbourne, is subject to
global freezing orders. He has been cooperating with liquidators and recently
told the Federal Court the money he received from Forum and Mr Papas was in
return for his initial seed investment in Forum of $10 million.
Mr Papas is yet to formally file a defence. He recently told
the Federal Court that since being accused of fraud by Westpac he has suffered
from coronavirus and mental health issues.
The bank has also added Mr Papas’ business partner in
Greece, Anastasios Giamouridis, as a new respondent in its case against the
soccer identity and his company for allegedly holding $10.7 million on trust
for the bank and is seeking an order that he account for those funds, though it
does not accuse him of any wrongdoing and does not press any claim for
compensation or damages against Mr Giamouridis. Mr Giamouridis owns a 1 per
cent stake in Mr Papas’ Greek company Mazcon.
Westpac’s total claim against Mr Papas for his alleged fraud
now sits at $296 million, which includes $254 million from Westpac’s Australian
business and $NZ44 million from its Kiwi arm. Japan’s Sumitomo alleges it was
defrauded by $100 million by Mr Papas and his company, while French bank
Société Générale alleges it was defrauded by more than $8 million.
Meanwhile, court documents from Société Générale’s case
against Forum Finance single out Mr Papas’ executive assistant Eloise Orlandini
as playing a crucial, but perhaps unknowing, role in the alleged fraud.
The documents detail how Ms Orlandini delivered documents to
Société Générale via a third party, Eqwe, also used in Forum Finance’s dealings
with Westpac, with allegedly forged signatures and terms that were “false and a
fiction”.
The bank accuses “Ms Papas or Ms Orlandini” of submitting
fraudulent documents “knowing and intending” these documents would be presented
to Société Générale as “legitimate and in accordance with the terms of the
master agreement (when they in fact were not).”
Forum Finance had entered into a “master agreement” with
Société Générale in November 2020 allowing funds to flow between the two
entities for the purpose of financing equipment leases for third parties.
The fraud scheme involved three loans obtained by Forum
Finance on behalf of Veolia for the sale of organic waste digesters, which
claimed to have been delivered, received and accepted by Veolia “when they were
not”, according to court documents.
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