An Australian federal court judge has issued an arrest warrant for Bill Papas who is at the centre of fraud allegations. This latest development will pave the way for Mr Papas’ extradition from Greece.
The warrant to arrest and detain Mr Papas was issued on Wednesday by Justice Michael Lee and came after he was found have repeatedly disobeyed court orders and showed no intention of returning to Australia to answer to charges of fraud worth up to $400 million against Westpac Société Générale in France and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking of Japan.
“The Age” reported that the federal court order would enable federal agencies to hold extradition talks with Greece to bring about Mr Papas’ return to Australia. It was a process that could take months to finalise.
In issuing the warrant Justice Lee said Mr Papas had made no genuine effort to return after he flew to Greece in June. He had also failed to provide adequate information to his solicitors as to his whereabouts.
Mr Papas had allegedly breached freezing orders when in July he made two payments worth $720,000 through an online Macro Vue trading account to his cousin, Eric Constantinidis.
READ MORE: Liquidators’ report claims Papas and Forum Group were acting fraudulently in 2013
“There is no basis, let alone a reasonable basis, for thinking Mr Papas is likely to return to Australia from Greece. … Accordingly, I am satisfied that I should issue a warrant for Mr Papas’ arrest and detention in custody before he is brought before the court,” Justice Lee is reported to have said.
Mr Papas left Australia in June after clients started to ask questions about documents with allegedly forged signatures that were used to obtain loans through companies linked to Forum Group of which Mr Papas is a founding director.
Mr Papas had informed the court in July that he had booked a flight to Sydney but did not board it after claiming that he had contracted COVID-19. He then claimed that he did not have the money for the airfare and asked the court to lift some of the freezing orders.