Westpac Banking Corporation v Forum Finance Pty Limited (in liq) (Liability)

[2024] FCA 1176

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Westpac Banking Corporation v Forum Finance Pty Limited (in liq) (Liability) [2024] FCA 1176

File numbers:

NSD 616 of 2021
NSD 642 of 2021
NSD 681 of 2021

Judgment of:

CHEESEMAN J

Date of judgment:

11 October 2024

Catchwords:

EQUITY — audacious fraud perpetrated against four financiers – collective advance by financiers of about $500 million to companies in the consolidated Forum group and to a related company incorporated in New Zealand – advances made pursuant to fictitious and fraudulent equipment leasing finance arrangements – where comprehensive uncontested tracing evidence establishes that tainted proceeds channelled through myriad of corporate entities to wide range of property (including real and personal property) and on extravagant lifestyle – where principal fraudster, Mr Bill Papas, fled the jurisdiction and did not defend the proceedings – whether respondents liable under principles in Black v Freedman – whether respondents liable under first or second limb of Barnes v Addy – whether individual respondents had knowledge (actual or constructive) of the fraudulent scheme –
Held: respondents liable, separate hearing on relief

Legislation:

Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) ss 50, 69, 140(2)

Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) s 37M

Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) r 30.21

Cases cited:

Agip (Africa) Ltd v Jackson [1990] Ch 265

All Class Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd (in liq) v Chubb Insurance Australia Ltd (No 2) [2021] FCA 782; 154 ACSR 78

Anderson v Canaccord Genuity Financial Ltd [2023] NSWCA 294; 113 NSWLR 151

Arizabaleta v R [2023] NSWCCA 217

Australia Kunqian International Energy Co Pty Ltd v Flash Lighting Company Ltd [2020] VSCA 239

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Olex Australia Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 222; ATPR 42–540

Australian Executor Trustee (SA) Ltd v Kerr [2021] NSWCA 5; 151 ACSR 204

Australian Securities and Investments Commissionv CFS Private Wealth Pty Ltd (No 2) [2019] FCA 24

Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Westpac Banking Corporation (No 2) [2018] FCA 751; 266 FCR 147

Baden v Société Générale pour Favouriser le Développement du Commerce et de l’Industrie en France SA [1993] 1 WLR 509

Bank of Credit and Commerce International (Overseas) Ltd v Akindele [2001] Ch 437

Banque Commerciale SA. En Liquidation v Akhil Holdings Ltd [1990] HCA 11; 169 CLR 279

Barnes v Addy (1874) LR 9 Ch App 244

Beach Petroleum NL v Johnson [1993] FCA 392; 43 FCR 1

Bentley Smythe Pty Ltd v Anton Fabrications (NSW) Pty Ltd [2011] NSWSC 186; 248 FLR 384

Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liq) v Nazir (No 2) [2015] UKSC 23; [2016] AC 1

Black v S Freedman & Co [1910] HCA 58; 12 CLR 105

Bradshaw v McEwans Pty Ltd (1951) 217 ALR 1

Break Fast Investments Pty Ltd v Rigby Cooke Lawyers [2022] VSCA 118

Briginshaw v Briginshaw [1938] HCA 34; 60 CLR 336

Briginshaw: Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing & Allied Services Union of Australia v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [2007] FCAFC 132; 162 FCR 466

Cathro (Liquidator) in the matter of Petsamo No 14 Pty Ltd (in liq) v Thomassian [2022] FCA 399

CCL Secure Pty Ltd v Berry [2019] FCAFC 81

Chong v CC Containers Pty Ltd [2015] VSCA 137; 49 VR 402

Consul Development Pty Ltd v DPC Estates Pty Ltd [1975] HCA 8; 132 CLR 373

Coote v Kelly [2013] NSWCA 357

Cubillo v Commonwealth (No 2) [2000] FCA 1084; 103 FCR 1

Dodd v State of Western Australia [2014] WASCA 13; 238 A Crim R 72

Eade v The King [1924] 1924 HCA 9; 34 CLR 154

Edwards v The Queen [1993] HCA 63; 178 CLR 193

ET-China.com International Holdings Ltd v Cheung [2021] NSWCA 24; 388 ALR 128

Fair Work Ombudsmen v Grouped Property Services Pty Ltd [2016] FCA 1034

Farah Constructions Pty Ltd v Say-Dee Pty Ltd [2007] HCA 22; 230 CLR 89

Fistar v Riverwood Legion and Community Club Ltd [2016] NSWCA 81; 91 NSWLR 732

Fox v Percy [2003] HCA 22; 214 CLR 118

Gautam v Health Care Complaints Commission [2021] NSWCA 85

GLJ v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32; 97 ALJR 857

Goodrich Aerospace Pty Ltd v Arsic [2006] NSWCA 187; 66 NSWLR 186

Gore v Australian Securities and Investments Commission [2017] FCAFC 13; 249 FCR 167

Great Investments Ltd v Warner [2016] FCAFC 85; 243 FCR 516

Grimaldi v Chameleon Mining NL (No 2) [2012] FCAFC 6; 200 FCR 296,

Helton v Allen [1940] HCA 20; 63 CLR 691

Heperu Pty Ltd v Belle [2009] NSWCA 252; (2009) 76 NSWLR 230

Imobilari Pty Ltd v Opes Prime Stockbroking Ltd (in liq) [2008] FCA 1920; (2008) 252 ALR 41

Jones v Dunkel [1959] HCA 8; 101 CLR 298

Kalls Enterprises Pty Ltd (in liq) v Baloglow [2007] NSWCA 191; 63 ACSR 557

Kuhl v Zurich Financial Services Australia Ltd [2011] HCA 11; 243 CLR 361

Lee v Russell [1961] WAR 103

Lennard’s Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co Ltd [1915] AC 705

Luxton v Vines [1952] HCA 19; 85 CLR 352

Maguire v Makaronis [1997] 188 CLR 449; 188 CLR 449

Martin v Norton Rose Fulbright Australia [2021] FCAFC 216; 289 FCR 369

Mayfair Wealth Partners Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission [2022] FCAFC 170; 295 FCR 106

McAdam v Chylos Pty Ltd [2015] FCAFC 161

Milfoil Pty Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd [2020] VSCA 305

Moriah War Memorial College Association v Augustine Nosti [2020] NSWSC 942

Re Dawson [1966] 2 NSWR 211

Re Day [2017] HCA 2; 91 ALJR 262

Robb Evans v European Bank Limited [2004] NSWCA 82; (2004) 61 NSWLR 75

Sangha v Baxter [2009] NSWCA 78; 52 MVR 492

Saravinovksa v Saravinovski (No 6) [2016] NSWSC 964

Seltsam Pty Ltd v McGuiness [2000] NSWCA 29; 49 NSWLR 262

Shergill v Singh [2023] FCA 1346; 326 IR 428

Simmons v NSW Trustee and Guardian [2014] NSWCA 405; (2014) 17 BPR 33,717

Société d’Avances Commerciales (Société Anonyme Egyptienne) v Merchants’ Marine Insurance Co (The “Palitana”) (1924) 20 Ll L Rep 140

Steinberg v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1975) 134 CLR 640

Sze Tu v Lowe [2014] NSWCA 462; 89 NSWLR 317

Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass [1972] AC 153

Toksoz v Westpac Banking Corporation [2012] NSWCA 199; 289 ALR 577

Tripodi v The Queen (1961) 104 CLR 1

Turner v O’Bryan [2022] NSWCA 23; 107 NSWLR 171

United Group Resources Pty Ltd v Calabro (No 5) [2011] FCA 1408; 198 FCR 514

Wambo Coal Pty Ltd v Ariff [2007] NSWSC 589; 63 ACSR 429

Warner v Hung, in the matter of Bellpac Pty Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed) (In Liquidation) (No 2) [2011] FCA 1123; 297 ALR 56

Watson v Foxman [1995] NSWCA 497; 49 NSWLR 315

Westpac Banking Corporation v Bell Group Ltd (in liq) (No 3) [2012] WASCA 157; 44 WAR 1

Westpac Banking Corporation v Forum Finance Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 1341

Whisprun Pty Ltd v Dixon [2003] HCA 48; 200 ALR 447

Youyang Pty Ltd v Minter Ellison Morris Fletcher [2003] HCA 15; 212 CLR 484

Division:

General Division

Registry:

New South Wales

National Practice Area:

Commercial and Corporations

Sub-area:

Commercial Contracts, Banking, Finance and Insurance

Number of paragraphs:

1209

Date of last submissions:

3 March 2023

Date of hearing:

6-17, 21, 23-24 February 2023 

Counsel for Applicants in NSD 616 of 2021:

Mr J Stoljar SC with Ms V Brigden and Ms C Hamilton-Jewell

Solicitor for Applicants in NSD 616 of 2021:

MinterEllison

Counsel for Applicant in NSD 642 of 2021:

Mr S Gray with Mr M Youssef

Solicitor for Applicant in NSD 642 of 2021:

Ashurst

Counsel for Applicant in NSD 681 of 2021:

Mr M Izzo SC with Ms E Beechey

Solicitor for Applicant in NSD 681 of 2021:

Jones Day

Counsel for the First, Fourth to Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fifth, Twenty-Eighth, Thirtieth, Thirty-First, Thirty-Sixth to Thirty-Eighth, Fortieth and Forty-First Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021; the First and Third Respondents in NSD 642 of 2021; and the First, Third to Fourteenth, Twentieth to Twenty-Eighth Respondents in NSD 681 of 2021:

Mr N Kidd SC with Mr R Jameson

Solicitor for the First, Fourth to Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fifth, Twenty-Eighth, Thirtieth, Thirty-First, Thirty-Sixth to Thirty-Eighth, Fortieth and Forty-First Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021; the First and Third Respondents in NSD 642 of 2021; and the First, Third to Fourteenth, Twentieth to Twenty-Eighth Respondents in NSD 681 of 2021:

Allens

Counsel for the Third and Forty-Fifth Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021:

Mr J Rudd

Solicitor for the Third and Forty-Fifth Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021:

Aptum Legal

Counsel for the Twenty-Ninth and Fiftieth Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021:

Mr I Faulkner SC and Mr D Knoll

Solicitor for the Twenty-Ninth and Fiftieth Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021:

GA Lawyers

Counsel for the Forty-Sixth Respondent in NSD 616 of 2021:

Mr N Kirby

Solicitor for the Forty-Sixth Respondent in NSD 616 of 2021:

Francom Legal

Counsel for the Second Respondent in NSD 616 of 2021; the Second Respondent in NSD 681 of 2021; and the Second Respondent in NSD 642 of 2021

The Second Respondent did not appear

Counsel for the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Fourth, Twenty-Sixth, Twenty-Seventh, Thirty-Second, Thirty-Third, Thirty-Fourth, Thirty-Fifth, Thirty-Ninth, Forty-Second, Forty-Third, Forty-Eighth and Forty-Ninth Respondents in NSD 616 of 2021; and the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Respondents in NSD 681 of 2021

The Respondents did not appear

Counsel for the Forty-Seventh Respondent in NSD 616 of 2021

The Respondent did not appear

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A        PREFACE	[1]
B        INTRODUCTION	[23]
B.1     The key parties	[24]
B.1.1     The applicant financiers	[24]
B.1.2     The key respondents	[25]
B.1.2.1        Mr Papas	[26]
B.1.2.2        Forum Finance	[30]
B.1.2.3        FGFS	[32]
B.1.3     Additional respondents in the proceedings	[38]
B.2     Concurrent hearing – evidence in one, evidence in all	[49]
B.3 Evidence adduced in accordance with s 50 of the Evidence Act	[50]
C        OVERVIEW OF THE FRAUD	[52]
C.1     The Documented Arrangements	[54]
C.2     Discovery of the fraud by the financiers	[60]
C.2.1     Westpac	[60]
C.2.2     SMBC	[64]
C.2.3     Societe Generale	[66]
C.3     The reality of the arrangements	[70]
C.4     The essential features of the fraud that were critical to its success	[96]
C.5     Intended and actual structure of the scheme and flow of funds	[102]
C.5.1     Intended structure and actual structure	[107]
C.5.1.1        Westpac	[108]
C.5.1.2        SMBC	[111]
C.5.1.3        Societe Generale	[116]
C.5.2     Flow of funds	[117]
C.5.3     Amended summary of payment to, or on behalf of, respondents	[120]
D        PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDINGS	[121]
D.1     The individual respondents	[130]
D.1.1     Mr Papas – Respondent in all three proceedings	[130]
D.1.2     Mr Tesoriero - Respondent in the Westpac Proceeding	[133]
D.1.3     Mr Bouchahine - Respondent in the Westpac Proceeding	[135]
D.1.4     Ms Agostino - Respondent in the Westpac Proceeding	[137]
D.1.5     Other individual respondents – Westpac Proceeding	[139]
D.2     The corporate respondents	[140]
D.2.1     Consolidated Group Entities (Forum Entities)	[147]
D.2.1.1        FGOC – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[149]
D.2.1.2        Forum Finance – Respondent in all three proceedings	[150]
D.2.1.3        FG – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[151]
D.2.1.4        Forum Enviro – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[152]
D.2.1.5        Forum Enviro (Aust) - Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[153]
D.2.2     Jointly Owned Entities	[154]
D.2.2.1        FGFS – Respondent in all three proceedings	[155]
D.2.2.2        Jointly owned property SPVs	[156]
D.2.2.3        Intrashield – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[159]
D.2.3     Tesoriero Entities – Respondents in the Westpac and/or SMBC Proceedings	[160]
D.2.4     Other Papas-Related Entities – Respondents in the Westpac and/or SMBC Proceedings	[171]
D.2.4.1        Incorporated in Australia	[172]
D.2.4.1.1     Iugis – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[172]
D.2.4.1.2     Palante - Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[175]
D.2.4.1.3     Spartan - Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[178]
D.2.4.1.4     Forum Fleet – Respondent in the SMBC Proceeding	[181]
D.2.4.1.5     Imagetec FS – Respondent in the SMBC Proceeding	[183]
D.2.4.1.6     Imagetec Solutions – Respondent in the SMBC Proceeding	[185]
D.2.4.1.7     Iugis Waste – Respondent in the SMBC Proceeding	[187]
D.2.4.1.8     Aramia – Respondent in the SMBC Proceeding	[189]
D.2.4.2        Incorporated outside Australia	[191]
D.2.4.2.1     Mazcon – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[191]
D.2.4.2.2     Iugis (UK) – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[193]
D.2.4.2.3     Iugis Greece – Respondent in the Westpac Proceeding	[194]
D.2.4.2.4     Iugis Energy Greece – Respondent in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings	[195]
D.2.5     Claims not pressed	[196]
D.2.6     Overseas entity alleged to have received tainted funds	[197]
D.2.6.1        Theion Ike - Respondent in the Westpac Proceeding	[197]
E        RESPONDENTS AGAINST WHOM THE PROCEEDINGS HAVE RESOLVED	[198]
F         THE EVIDENCE	[202]
F.1      Evidence relied upon by Westpac	[206]
F.1.1     Employee evidence	[207]
F.1.1.1         Geoffrey Anderson	[208]
F.1.1.2         Randyl Stack	[210]
F.1.1.3         Trevor Chapman	[211]
F.1.1.4         Brent Moreton	[212]
F.1.2     Customer evidence	[213]
F.1.2.1         Trevor Smith – ALH	[216]
F.1.2.2         David Maher – CHC	[217]
F.1.2.3         Stacy Flanagan – CHC	[218]
F.1.2.4         Rohan de Silva – Coles	[219]
F.1.2.5         Vinay Parikh – Coles	[220]
F.1.2.6         Kris Hopkins – HWLE	[221]
F.1.2.7         Juan Martinez – HWLE	[222]
F.1.2.8         Paul Giugni – Scentre	[223]
F.1.2.9         Gregory Miles – Scentre	[224]
F.1.2.10       Gurpreet Brar – Veolia	[225]
F.1.2.11       Lorenzo Kozlovic – Veolia and Veolia NZ	[226]
F.1.2.12       Jarvas Croome – WesTrac	[227]
F.1.2.13       Carly Rossbach-Smith – WesTrac	[228]
F.1.3     Other evidence	[230]
F.1.3.1         Jason Preston – liquidator	[231]
F.1.3.2         Andrew Grenfell – liquidator	[234]
F.1.3.3         Michael Hughes – solicitor	[235]
F.1.3.4         Chandana Kumaragamage – legal technology	[236]
F.2      Evidence relied upon by SMBC	[237]
F.2.1     Michael Timpany	[238]
F.2.2     Customer evidence	[240]
F.2.2.1         Lorenzo Kozlovic – Veolia	[241]
F.2.2.2         Gurpreet Brar – Veolia	[242]
F.2.2.3         Julian Gaillard – Veolia	[243]
F.2.2.4         Daniel Conlon – Veolia	[244]
F.2.3     Other evidence	[245]
F.2.3.1         Jason Ireland – liquidator	[245]
F.2.3.2         Roger Dobson – solicitor	[246]
F.3      Evidence relied upon by Societe Generale	[247]
F.3.1     Employee evidence	[248]
F.3.1.1         Gregory Thong	[249]
F.3.1.2         Nicolas Dumont	[251]
F.3.2     Customer evidence	[252]
F.3.2.1         Gurpreet Brar – Veolia	[253]
F.3.3     Other evidence – liquidator	[254]
F.4      Evidence relied upon by the individual respondents	[255]
F.4.1     Vincenzo Tesoriero	[255]
F.4.2     Moussa (Tony) Bouchahine	[258]
F.5      Leave to Re-open	[260]
G        PROCEEDING IN THE ABSENCE OF A RESPONDENT	[261]
H        APPROACH TO FACT FINDING	[265]
H.1     Burden of Proof	[266]
H.2     Assessment of credit	[281]
H.2.1     Fallibility of human memory	[283]
H.2.2     Reliance on documentary evidence	[288]
H.3     General principles applicable to fact finding and credit	[290]
H.4     Principles in relation to findings on knowledge	[296]
H.4.1     Categories of knowledge	[297]
H.4.2     Attribution of knowledge	[305]
H.4.2.1        Background to the Principles of Corporate Attribution	[306]
H.4.2.2        The Rules of Attribution	[310]
H.4.2.3        A fraud exception?	[312]
I         FACTUAL FINDINGS	[315]
I.1       The fraud is established	[316]
I.2       Mr Papas was the architect of the fraud	[323]
I.3       Ms Agostino’s role in the fraud	[332]
I.3.1     Ms Agostino’s Relationship with Mr Papas	[348]
I.3.2     Ms Agostino’s involvement in Maia	[349]
I.3.3     Ms Agostino’s Participation in the Scheme	[350]
I.3.3.1         Fraudulent Transaction Documents – Schedules	[351]
I.3.3.2         The 9 September Annexures – Coles	[353]
I.3.3.3         Other similar instances	[357]
I.3.3.4         Conclusions on “Annexure A” Document Preparation	[362]
I.3.4     False insurance certificates	[375]
I.3.4.1         Receipt of Funds	[379]
I.3.5     Conclusion on Ms Agostino’s knowledge	[380]
I.3.6     Flow of funds to Ms Agostino	[384]
I.4       Credit findings	[385]
I.4.1     Mr Tesoriero	[386]
I.4.2     Mr Bouchahine	[399]
I.5       Mr Papas	[403]
I.6       Mr Papas and Mr Bouchahine’s work before Forum	[449]
I.7       Establishment of the Forum Group	[453]
I.8       Mr Bouchahine joins FGOC	[458]
I.9       TIG becomes a shareholder in FGOC and Mr Tesoriero becomes a director	[465]
I.10     Mr Tesoriero’s status as an office holder in the various entities	[505]
I.11     Mr Tesoriero’s employment with FGOC	[511]
I.12     Mr Tesoriero’s knowledge of being a director of Forum Finance	[535]
I.13     Mr Tesoriero’s belief in the success of the Forum business	[538]
I.14     Iugis entities	[543]
I.15     FGFS	[554]
I.16     Mr Tesoriero’s claims regarding return on investment	[560]
I.16.1    First version of investment thesis	[567]
I.16.2    Second version of investment thesis	[581]
I.16.3    Third version investment thesis	[587]
I.17     The Loan Defences	[600]
I.18     Forum dealings with Maia	[618]
I.18.1    The Maia Deed of Assignment – October 2018	[622]
I.18.2    Events leading to the Maia Deed of Assignment	[635]
I.18.2.1       Mr Papas’ negotiations with Maia executives for the provision of larger funding lines for Forum’s international operations	[638]
I.18.2.2       Maia raised concerns in February 2018	[652]
I.18.2.3       Maia Sub-Agent Notice to NMF	[657]
I.18.2.4       Maia Visit March 2018 and response	[662]
I.18.2.5       Attempt to refinance for Forum/Maia book	[688]
I.18.2.6       The Standstill Agreement	[692]
I.18.2.7       Mr Papas’ Notebook	[699]
I.18.2.8       First Variation to, amongst other things, extend timeframe for payment the Standstill Agreement	[718]
I.18.2.9       Mr Tesoriero’s evidence about dealings with Maia in August 2018	[726]
I.18.2.10     Continued deterioration of relationship between Forum and Maia	[730]
I.18.2.11     Second variation of Standstill Agreement	[732]
I.18.2.12     Maia Guarantee executed by Mr Tesoriero and Mr Tesoriero’s evidence regarding future funding	[739]
I.18.2.13     Conclusion on Mr Tesoriero’s knowledge as a result of dealings with Maia	[750]
I.19     Mr Bouchahine’s account of advance funding	[769]
I.20     Operation of FGFS	[785]
I.21     Property and asset acquisitions from January 2018	[812]
I.21.1    Commercial properties	[827]
I.21.2    Residential properties	[832]
I.21.3    Holiday rentals	[839]
I.21.4    Petrol stations	[841]
I.21.5    Sources of funding for property acquisitions	[846]
I.21.6    Mr Tesoriero’s family and their properties	[848]
I.21.7    Existing investments	[849]
I.21.8    Third party financing	[850]
I.21.9    Luxury assets and expenses	[860]
I.21.9.1       Share trading	[862]
I.21.9.2       Boats	[863]
I.21.9.3       Luxury cars	[865]
I.21.9.4       Other vehicles and vehicle-related expenses	[867]
I.21.9.5       Car racing expenses	[869]
I.21.9.6       Horse racing expenses	[870]
I.21.9.7       Projects in Greece	[871]
I.21.9.8       Miscellaneous expenses	[872]
I.22     FGFS excel workbooks	[873]
I.23     Conclusion regarding FGFS	[913]
I.24     Conclusion on Knowledge	[914]
I.24.1    Mr Papas	[917]
I.24.2    Ms Agostino	[917]
I.24.3    Mr Tesoriero	[918]
I.24.4    Mr Bouchahine	[923]
I.25     The tracing analysis evidence	[937]
I.25.1    Affidavits of Mr Preston	[940]
I.25.2    Flow of funds within Traced Forum Entities	[952]
I.25.3    Method of tracing	[954]
I.26     Forum dealings with WBC	[966]
I.26.1    The Eqwe/Forum Programme Agreements	[966]
I.26.2    Iugis dealings with WNZL	[977]
I.27     Transactions between Forum Finance and WBC	[979]
I.27.1    Transaction 1A	[982]
I.27.2    Transaction 1B	[987]
I.27.2.1       Westpac’s internal processes	[991]
I.27.2.2       Ms Brar’s evidence	[995]
I.27.3    Transaction 2	[998]
I.27.3.1       Mr Smith’s evidence	[1004]
I.27.4    Transaction 4	[1010]
I.27.4.1       Mr Parikh’s evidence	[1016]
I.28     Transactions between Iugis NZ and WNZL	[1022]
I.28.1    Ms Brar’s evidence	[1027]
I.29     Forum dealings with SMBC	[1030]
I.29.1    2018 MRASA	[1030]
I.29.2    First Drawdown under the 2018 Arrangement	[1036]
I.29.3    Second Drawdown under the 2018 Arrangement	[1039]
I.29.4    2020 MRASA	[1043]
I.29.5    First Drawdown under the 2020 Arrangement	[1047]
I.29.6    Evidence regarding 2018 Drawdowns	[1051]
I.29.7    Evidence regarding 2020 Drawdowns	[1056]
I.30     Liquidator’s analysis of fictitious leases underpinning SMBC arrangements	[1060]
I.30.1    Analysis of leases	[1065]
I.30.2    Findings	[1073]
I.31     Forum dealings with Societe Generale	[1081]
I.31.1    Master Agreement	[1081]
I.31.2    March 2021 Transaction	[1091]
I.31.3    Evidence	[1100]
I.31.3.1       Execution of the transaction documents	[1100]
I.31.3.2       Payment to Forum Finance	[1103]
I.31.4    Conclusion on Societe Generale Fraudulent Transactions	[1109]
J         LIABILITY	[1112]
J.1       Overview	[1113]
J.2       Applicable principles	[1119]
J.2.1     The recipient trust claims	[1119]
J.2.2     The knowing receipt claims	[1130]
J.2.3     The knowing assistance claims	[1133]
J.3       Consideration – Westpac’s primary claims for relief	[1138]
J.3.1     Claims against Forum Finance	[1145]
J.3.2     Claims against Mr Papas	[1149]
J.3.3     Claims against FGFS	[1152]
J.3.4     Claims against Mr Tesoriero	[1155]
J.3.5     Claims against Mr Bouchahine	[1159]
J.3.6     Claims against Ms Agostino	[1164]
J.3.7     Claims against corporate respondents	[1168]
J.3.8     Claims against Theion Ike	[1180]
J.4       Consideration – SMBC’s primary claims	[1181]
J.4.1     Claims against Mr Papas	[1185]
J.4.2     Claims against Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aus)	[1189]
J.4.3     Claims against FGFS	[1197]
J.4.4     Claims against Other Papas-Related Entities	[1199]
J.4.5     Claims against Tesoriero Entities	[1201]
J.5       Consideration – Societe Generale’s primary claims	[1204]
J.5.1     Claims against Forum Finance	[1205]
J.5.2     Claim against Mr Papas	[1206]
J.5.3     Claim against FGFS	[1207]
K        CONCLUSION	[1208]
LIST OF ANNEXURES	[]
Annexure B– Westpac intended structure of the scheme	[]
Annexure C– Westpac comparison of the intended structure and the fraudulent scheme	[]
Annexure D – SMBC intended structure of the scheme under the 2018 MRASA	[]
Annexure E – SMBC intended structure of the scheme under the 2020 MRASA	[]
Annexure F – Societe Generale intended documentary arrangements and the actual flow of money between the parties	[]
Annexure G – Flow of Westpac funds to the respondents	[]
Annexure H – Flow of SMBC funds to the respondents	[]
Annexure I – Amended summary of payment to, or on behalf of, respondents	[]
Annexure J – Revised summary of Payments, to or on behalf of each Respondent (Receipts Table)
Annexure K - Active parties end of hearing
Annexure L – Two page extract from Mr Papas’ original notebook
Annexure M -Principal Entities, Individuals and Properties (not exhaustive)

ORDERS

NSD 616 of 2021

BETWEEN:

WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION ABN 33 007 457 141  

First Applicant

WESTPAC NEW ZEALAND LIMITED (COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER COMPANY NUMBER 1763882)

Second Applicant

AND:

FORUM FINANCE PTY LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) (RECEIVERS APPOINTED) ACN 153 301 172  

First Respondent

BASILE PAPADIMITRIOU

Second Respondent

VINCENZO FRANK TESORIERO

Third Respondent

ORDER MADE BY:	CHEESEMAN J
DATE OF ORDER:	11 OCTOBER 2024

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1.The proceedings be listed for a case management hearing at 9.30 am on 28 October 2024.

Note:   Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.

ORDERS

NSD 642 of 2021

BETWEEN:

SOCIETE GENERALE (ABN 71 092 516 286)

Applicant

AND:

FORUM FINANCE PTY LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) (RECEIVERS APPOINTED) ACN 153 301 172

Respondent

BASILE PAPADIMITRIOU

Second Respondent

FORUM GROUP FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD (ACN 623 033 705) (IN LIQUIDATION)

Third Respondent

ORDER MADE BY:	CHEESEMAN J
DATE OF ORDER:	11 OCTOBER 2024

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1.The proceedings be listed for a case management hearing at 9.30 am on 28 October 2024.

Note:   Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.

ORDERS

NSD 681 of 2021

BETWEEN:

SMBC LEASING AND FINANCE, INC. ARBN 602 309 366

Applicant

AND:

FORUM ENVIRO (AUST) PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 607 484 364

First Respondent

BASILE PAPADIMITRIOU

Second Respondent

FORUM ENVIRO PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 168 709 840

Third Respondent

ORDER MADE BY:	CHEESEMAN J
DATE OF ORDER:	11 OCTOBER 2024

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1.The proceedings be listed for a case management hearing at 9.30 am on 28 October 2024.

Note:   Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

CHEESEMAN J:

A.              PREFACE

1. These reasons concern the aftermath of an audacious fraud perpetrated against four financiers who collectively advanced about half a billion dollars to companies in the Forum group in Australia and to a related company in New Zealand. The applicant financiers are Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC) and Westpac New Zealand Limited (WNZL) (together Westpac); SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc (SMBC); and Societe Generale. There are three separate proceedings before the Court brought by the duped financiers. There is some but far from a compete overlap between the respondents to each of the three proceedings.

2. The financiers advanced funds in respect of what proved to be fictitious and falsified equipment finance contracts. The impugned contractual arrangements with each of the financiers are similar in concept.

3. To presage what follows, the underlying fraud alleged by each financier has been comprehensively established, on evidence that was in the main, not contested. All parties, including the respondents who were alleged to have the requisite knowledge of the fraud, proceeded on the basis that the fraud, and Mr Papas’ involvement in it, was established. The position taken by the respondents in this regard was realistic — it reflected the strength of the evidence establishing the fraud.

4. The principal perpetrator of the fraud was Mr Bill Papas (also known as Basile Papadimitriou). Mr Papas is a respondent in each of the three proceedings. Directly or indirectly, Mr Papas, owned and controlled many of the corporate entities through which the tainted funds cycled. For the purpose of the financiers’ claims, Mr Papas’s knowledge of the fraud is properly attributed to his related entities which, by design or result, benefitted from the fraud.

5. Mr Papas fled the country in June 2021 at about the time the first threads of the fraud were discovered by Westpac. During the currency of these proceedings, a warrant was issued for Mr Papas’ arrest on a charge of contempt. Mr Papas did not defend the proceedings.

6. Shortly after Mr Papas left Australia, his domestic partner, Ms Louisa Agostino, followed him. In her defence, Ms Agostino pleaded that she commenced a relationship with Mr Papas in or around late 2018 to early 2019 and that she resided with Mr Papas from in or around September 2020. Ms Agostino was a Forum employee for the whole of the relevant period. One of the positions that she held was that of Forum’s “Business Solutions Manager”. She was involved in the day-to-day management of the equipment lease finance part of the business, with particular responsibilities in relation to Forum’s waste management offerings. Ms Agostino worked for Forum and held shares in the group holding company. She is a respondent in the Westpac proceeding. The evidence establishes that Ms Agostino was involved in creating fraudulent documents that were deployed as part of the fraud. Neither Mr Papas nor Ms Agostino have returned to the jurisdiction. Despite filing a defence, Ms Agostino did not, in substance, defend the proceedings against her.

7. The remaining individual respondents are joined only to the Westpac proceeding. They are Mr Vincenzo Tesoriero and Mr Moussa (Tony) Bouchahine.

8. Westpac allege, amongst other things, that Mr Tesoriero acted with Mr Papas in devising the fraud or alternatively had the requisite knowledge of the fraud to render him liable to Westpac. Mr Tesoriero defended the proceeding against him. The claims made against those of Mr Tesoriero’s related companies (of which Mr Papas was not a director) depend on Mr Tesoriero’s knowledge being attributed to them. These entities hold a significant amount of the property into which the tainted funds have been traced.

9. Mr Bouchahine is the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the consolidated Forum Group of companies (the Consolidated Group) and of Forum Group Financial Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (FGFS). The Forum Group of Companies (in liquidation) (FGOC) was the ultimate holding company in the Consolidated Group. Westpac allege, amongst other things, that Mr Bouchahine, like Mr Tesoriero, had the requisite knowledge of the fraud to render him liable to Westpac. Mr Bouchahine defended the proceeding.

10. As mentioned, neither Mr Tesoriero nor Mr Bouchahine sought to contest the fact of the overarching fraud. Their respective defences were confined to challenging the allegations made against them as to their knowledge of, and involvement in, the fraud. The proceedings have resolved against all other individual respondents.

11. There were four direct recipient companies of the tainted funds (the Primary Recipients), three of which were Forum group companies, incorporated in Australia, and the fourth of which was a company incorporated in New Zealand, owned and controlled by Mr Papas.

12. The three Forum group companies which were Primary Recipients were Forum Finance Pty Limited (in liquidation) (receivers appointed); Forum Enviro Pty Ltd (in liquidation) and Forum Enviro (Aust) Pty Ltd (in liquidation). They were each members of the Consolidated Group. Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero were the directors of Forum Finance at all relevant times. Mr Papas was the sole director of Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust) at all relevant times. Mr Papas was a director of FGOC from 2011 until liquidators were appointed in July 2021, following discovery of the fraud. Mr Tesoriero was a director of FGOC from 27 January 2013 until 24 April 2020. Mr Papas was the owner and sole director of the fourth Primary Recipient: Iugis (NZ) Limited (in liquidation) (previously known as Orca Enviro Solutions NZ Limited), a company incorporated in New Zealand (Iugis NZ).

13. The first of the impugned advances in these proceedings was in August 2018 (by SMBC). WBC made its first advance in September 2018. Societe Generale was late to the party, making the first of its three only advances in March 2021. The last advances were made in May and June 2021. The fraud was first discovered in June 2021.

14. The Forum relationships with Westpac and SMBC were cultivated in the period that the Forum relationship with another financier, Maia Financial Pty Ltd, was in its death throes. The Maia arrangements involved similar equipment finance arrangements as those that the financiers believed were in place in these proceedings. Limited documents relating to the Maia arrangements were in evidence in these proceedings. The Maia arrangements appear to have been in place from at least September 2017. By around March 2018, Maia was raising serious concerns with Mr Papas and Mr Bouchahine about the veracity of the arrangements. In around April 2018, Mr Papas made notes in a notebook that was seized during the execution of a search warrant at Mr Papas’ Sydney office, in which he sketched a mud map of the fundamental aspects of the fraudulent scheme, and which also included reference to his “overseas escape”. Included on the second of the two critical pages in which the fraudulent scheme is detailed is a notation “tell Vince everything you need to tell him”.

15. The Maia arrangements were ultimately finalised in around October 2018 on terms which involved Maia being paid out $58,850,000, by, amongst others, Forum entities, without the involvement of the third party customers, who ostensibly had the benefit of the equipment the subject of the equipment finance contracts. Mr Tesoriero guaranteed the obligations of Mr Papas and the Forum Entities in respect of the payout. Forum Enviro took an assignment of, amongst other things, Maia’s obligations in respect of the Maia equipment finance arrangements. The early tranches of funding advanced by WBC and SMBC in respect of the fraudulent equipment finance contracts overlapped chronologically with the staged payout of Maia by Forum. The limited documentary evidence in these proceedings reveals that each of Mr Papas, Mr Tesoriero, Mr Bouchahine and Ms Agostino had, to varying degrees, involvement in the finalisation of the Maia arrangements in the period between March 2018 and October 2018. The events relating to Maia form part of the circumstances in which the knowledge of each of Mr Tesoriero (and through him, the respondent entities associated with him), Mr Bouchahine and Ms Agostino fall to be assessed. The finalisation of the Maia relationship occurred relatively shortly after Forum entities established relationships with WBC and SMBC.

16. Distribution of the tainted funds after receipt by the Primary Recipients usually involved the funds being transferred to FGFS, a private company owned and controlled by Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero. Notwithstanding its name, FGFS was not part of the Consolidated Group. It was not accounted for as part of the Consolidated Group and its accounts were not, and were not required to be, audited.

17. Upon receipt, FGFS in the main channelled the tainted funds to companies associated with Mr Papas and/or Mr Tesoriero in Australia, New Zealand, the Hellenic Republic (Greece) and the United Kingdom (UK). FGFS also used some of the tainted funds to fund payments due from Forum companies to the financiers under the bogus equipment finance contracts. Making these payments served to cloak and thereby prolong the life of the fraud. FGFS does not appear to have carried on a legitimate business other than to facilitate the dispersal of the tainted funds to the beneficiaries of the fraud. Other than the fraudulent purpose, no commercial rationale was revealed to justify why FGFS, sitting outside the Consolidated Group and not owned by the ultimate group holding company, should receive the large sums that it did.

18. Most of the corporate respondents, both in Australia and elsewhere, are in liquidation, and leave has been granted to proceed against them. The limited number of corporate respondents who appeared at the hearing did so by their liquidators.

19. The liquidators of the key companies involved in the fraud have traced the distribution of the funds derived from the fraud and identified the property acquired and/or serviced using the tainted funds. The tracing evidence is essentially unchallenged.

20. The financiers seek a variety of proprietary and personal relief against the respondents  who had requisite knowledge of the fraud whether as recipients or participants and/or who hold property into which the tainted funds have been traced. These reasons concern liability only. The financiers wish to be heard separately on the form of relief if relief is granted.

21. For the reasons which follow, I find that the financiers are entitled to relief against each of the respondents against whom they pressed their primary claims. In so far as the individual respondents to the Westpac Proceedings are concerned, namely Mr Tesoriero, Mr Bouchahine and Ms Agostino, I find that Westpac has established that they are each liable on the basis, amongst other things, that they had knowledge of the fraud. I find that Westpac has established that each of the individual respondents had knowledge at or shortly after the inception of the financing arrangements. In relation to the claims made against the corporate respondents in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings that rely on the attribution of Mr Tesoriero’s knowledge to Mr Tesoriero’s related entities, I find those respondents liable on the basis of Mr Tesoriero’s knowledge.

22. I will make timetabling orders that afford the parties an opportunity to review the detailed reasons that follow with a view to bringing forward appropriate orders, including in relation to the arrangements for the hearing on relief. Accordingly, the only orders that I will make today, are in respect of a case management hearing on 28 October 2024.

    B.              INTRODUCTION

23. There are three proceedings before the Court. The applicants in each proceeding are the financiers who allege that they are the victim of a serious fraud perpetrated against them and for which the respondents are liable to them. Across the three proceedings, the fraud is alleged to have reaped in the realm of half a billion dollars collectively from the financiers. 

    B.1            The key parties

    B.1.1The applicant financiers

24. The applicants are WBC and WNZL (together Westpac); SMBC, a registered foreign company in Australia; and Societe Generale, a registered foreign company in Australia. I will refer to the applicants as the financiers. Where it is necessary to distinguish between the proceedings, I will refer to the individual proceedings by reference to the names of the financiers: NSD616/2021 (the Westpac Proceeding); NSD681/2021 (the SMBC Proceeding), and NSD642/2021 (the Societe Generale Proceeding). Proceedings brought by WNZL against Iugis NZ in the High Court of New Zealand have been stayed as a consequence of Iugis NZ being in liquidation.

    B.1.2The key respondents

25. Three respondents are common to all the proceedings. They are Mr Papas, Forum Finance, a member of the Consolidated Group, and FGFS, a private company of Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero that sits outside the Consolidated Group.

    B.1.2.1Mr Papas

26. At the time of the fraud, Mr Papas was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forum Group and a director of each of the Primary Recipients.

27. Despite initially appointing solicitors to appear on his behalf and participating in the proceedings, Mr Papas has not in any substantive way defended the allegations against him — he has not filed a defence (and has not been excused from so doing), he did not file and serve or adduce any evidence, he did not appear and was not represented at the hearing. As mentioned, orders were made on 20 October 2021 that a warrant be issued for Mr Papas’ arrest to bring him before the Court to answer a charge of contempt in the Westpac Proceeding: Westpac Banking Corporation v Forum Finance Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 1341.

28. The Court issued the warrant on that same day. Mr Papas has not been brought before the Court to answer the contempt charge.

29. Mr Papas did not appear when this matter was called on for hearing. Being satisfied that he had been served with the relevant originating applications, the pleadings and the evidence, I ordered that each of the three proceedings continue generally against Mr Papas in his absence pursuant to r 30.21(1)(b)(i) of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth).

    B.1.2.2Forum Finance

30. Forum Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of FGOC which is the ultimate holding company in the Consolidated Group. During the relevant period when the fraud was perpetrated, the directors of Forum Finance were Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero. Westpac allege that Mr Tesoriero had knowledge of and/or devised the fraudulent scheme with Mr Papas. He is not a respondent in the SMBC or Societe Generale Proceedings. SMBC do not positively advance a claim that Mr Tesoriero had knowledge of and/or devised the fraudulent scheme but seek to rely on any such finding that may be made in the Westpac Proceeding.

31. Forum Finance is alleged to have directly received the funds advanced by WBC and Societe Generale as a result of the alleged fraud. Mr Jason Preston and Mr Jason Ireland are the liquidators of Forum Finance. Forum Finance was excused from filing a defence in each of the three proceedings. At trial, Counsel for the liquidators indicated that they intended to play only a limited role in the proceedings, being that they wished to be heard on relief.

    B.1.2.3FGFS

32. FGFS sat outside of the Consolidated Group. In the relevant period, the directors and shareholders of FGFS were Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero. Mr Papas was a director from 23 November 2017 and continued as a director as at the date liquidators were appointed. Mr Tesoriero was a director from 13 November 2018 to 30 April 2020. FGFS is alleged to have received the tainted funds from the initial Forum recipients, including Forum Finance. As mentioned, aside from effectuating the distribution of the tainted funds to, or at the direction of, Mr Papas and/or Mr Tesoriero, FGFS did not appear to conduct a legitimate business in its own right. There did not appear to be any apparent commercial purpose for FGFS to have received the substantial sums which various Forum companies obtained from the financiers under the fictitious and falsified equipment lease contracts.

33. In broad terms, FGFS’s function was as an external treasury company of sorts, into which the tainted funds were funnelled from within the Consolidated Group and from which the tainted funds were subsequently applied in accordance with the wishes of Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero. An issue which Mr Tesoriero contests in his defence of the Westpac Proceeding is whether the tainted funds, when moving from FGFS, were subject to approval being given by Mr Papas, even when those funds were ultimately applied to projects in which Mr Tesoriero was interested rather than Mr Papas or to projects in which both Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero were interested.

34. Typically, the tainted funds were transferred to FGFS upon or very shortly after receipt by the initial Forum recipient. FGFS then disbursed the funds received by it in aid of personal projects being pursued by Mr Papas and/or Mr Tesoriero. The personal projects to which the tainted funds were directed included: property purchases; holiday houses; racing cars; racehorses; luxury cars; maintenance and storage of a yacht (XOXO), the purchase, maintenance and storage of a speedboat (Grady White Freedom) and a Greek football team as well as extravagant personal expenditure. FGFS also made payments back to Consolidated Group entities in order for those entities to make payments which were purportedly due to the financiers under the various contractual arrangements. The making of these cloaking payments served to delay discovery of the fraud and thereby prolong the fraud.

35. FGFS is alleged to have received $2,244,495 in tainted funds: $1,982,795 derived from Westpac and $261,700 derived from SMBC.

36. A result of FGFS sitting outside the Consolidated Group was that FGFS was not treated in the accounts as part of the consolidated accounts of the Consolidated Group. FGFS’s accounts were not required to be, and were not, audited. FGFS’s accounts were not prepared by the Consolidated Group’s accountant. FGFS’s accounts were prepared by Mr Lou Stefanetti of Pacific Blue Tax Services Pty Ltd, who was also accountant to Mr Tesoriero and his family. Mr Stefanetti certified in a letter dated 28 April 2017 to another financier, NWC Finance, that at that point in time, he was a practising accountant and had acted as the accountant for the Tesoriero family for the last 10 years. Mr Stefanetti continued to act as the accountant for Mr Tesoriero and his family as at, at least, 28 April 2017.

1. Mr Preston and Mr Ireland are the liquidators of FGFS, as well as being the liquidators or many other respondent companies. FGFS was excused from filing a defence in each of the three proceedings. At trial, Counsel for the liquidators indicated that they intended to play only a limited role in the proceedings, being that they wished to be heard on relief.

   B.1.3Additional respondents in the proceedings

2. Societe Generale only claims against the three respondents, common to all the proceedings, namely Mr Papas, Forum Finance and FGFS.

3. In addition to the three common respondents, there are numerous other respondents in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings. There is a substantial, but not complete, overlap between the corporate respondents to the Westpac Proceeding and the SMBC Proceeding. By the conclusion of the hearing:

   (1)the following corporate respondents were common to both the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings;

   (a)Forum Group Pty Ltd (Receivers Appointed) (in liquidation) (FG);

   (b)FGOC;

   (c)Forum Enviro;

   (d)Forum Enviro (Aust);

   (e)Iugis Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (f)Iugis (UK) Limited (Company No. 10745974) (in liquidation);

   (g)Iugis Energy SA (registered in Greece) (Iugis Energy Greece);

   (h)Mazcon Investments Hellas Ike (registered in Greece);

   (i)Palante Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (j)26 Edmonstone Road Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (k)5 Bulkara Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (l)6 Bulkara Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (m)23 Margaret Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (n)286 Carlisle Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (o)64-66 Berkeley St Hawthorn Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (64-66 Berkeley Street);

   (p)Intrashield Pty Ltd (in liquidation); and

   (q)Spartan Consulting Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation).

   (2)there were 18 corporate respondents against which Westpac sought relief that were not sued by SMBC:

   (a)1160 Glen Huntly Road Pty Ltd;

   (b)Mangusta (Vic) Pty Ltd;

   (c)14 James Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (d)Canner Investments Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (e)9 Gregory Street Ouyen Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (f)Tesoriero Investment Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (TIG);

   (g)193 Carlisle Street Enterprises Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (h)14 Kirwin Road Morwell Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (i)123 High Street Taradale Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (j)160 Murray Valley Hwy Lake Boga Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (k)31 Ellerman Street Dimboola Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (l)4 Cowslip Street Violet Town Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (m)55 Nolan Street Maryborough Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ;

   (n)89 Betka Road Mallacoota Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (o)9 Main Street Derrinallum Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (p)275 High Street Golden Square Pty Ltd (in liquidation); and

   (q)Iugis Hellas Ike (Iugis Greece) (initially sued by SMBC, but SMBC did not press its claim against it in final submissions); and

   (r)Aromatika Fyta Tsai Olympou Theion Ike

   (3)there were five corporate respondents against whom SMBC sought relief who were not sued by Westpac:

   (a)Forum Fleet Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (b)Imagetec Financial Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (Imagetec FS);

   (c)Imagetec Solutions Australia Pty Ltd (in liquidation);

   (d)Iugis Waste Solutions Pty Ltd (in liquidation); and

   (e)Aramia Holdings Pty Ltd (in liquidation).

4. Iugis Holdings Limited (Company Number 11123437) (Iugis Holdings UK) was a respondent in both the Westpac and SMBC proceedings, however, the financiers did not press their respective claims against it by the time of closing submissions.

5. As mentioned, Westpac also maintained its claims against three individual respondents who were not respondents to the SMBC Proceeding: Mr Tesoriero, Mr Bouchahine, and Ms Agostino.

6. The alleged role of each of the respondents is addressed in detail in Section D below. For introductory purposes, the following entities are significant in terms of, inter alia, the inflow of the tainted funds sourced from the financiers into the web of entities related to Mr Papas and/or Mr Tesoriero.

7. The funds from WBC flowed first to Forum Finance, which then disbursed the funds principally to FGFS, although prior to early 2019, Forum Finance dispersed the funds directly to FG and Forum Enviro. As noted, FGFS sat outside the group. Substantial funds received from WBC were also dispersed via Eqwe Pty Ltd. Eqwe acted as a third party agent of WBC in its dealings with Forum Finance. Eqwe is not a party to these proceedings. No evidence was led by Westpac from any person from Eqwe.

8. WNZL advanced funds to Iugis NZ, who then disbursed the funds received to FGFS. Iugis NZ is not a respondent to any of the proceedings. Iugis NZ was placed into liquidation on 13 August 2021. Mr Andrew Grenfell and Ms Kare Johnstone are its liquidators. Evidence was led by WNZL from Mr Grenfell in relation to the payments advanced by WNZL to Iugis NZ.

9. Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust) were the Primary Recipients of the funds advanced by SMBC. Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust) then transferred the funds in the main to FGFS. SMBC also advanced some of the funds to Flexirent Capital Pty Ltd who then paid funds to Forum Enviro, and to Forum Enviro (Aust). Flexirent acted as a third party agent of SMBC in its dealings with Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust). Flexirent is not a party to these proceedings. No evidence was led by SMBC from any person from Flexirent.

10. As with Forum Finance, Mr Preston and Mr Ireland are the liquidators of Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust) as well as FGFS. Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust) were excused from filing a defence in the Westpac and SMBC Proceedings. At trial, Counsel for the liquidators indicated that they intended to play only a limited role in the proceedings, being that they wished to be heard on relief.

11. The funds from Societe Generale were paid to Forum Finance which then dispersed the funds to FGFS.

12. FGFS dispersed funds it had derived from each of the financiers to other entities within and outside of the Consolidated Group. The entities that were outside the Consolidated Group were in the main connected in some way to either or both of Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero.

    B.2            Concurrent hearing – evidence in one, evidence in all

13. The hearing of the three proceedings was concurrent. Well in advance of the hearing, orders were made for the evidence in each of the proceedings to be evidence in each of the other proceedings. During the hearing, the tender of a small number of documents by Westpac relevant to establishing its claim against Ms Agostino was made on the basis that the documents were not tendered against Mr Bouchahine. I have not relied on these documents in relation to my findings against Mr Bouchahine.

    B.3 Evidence adduced in accordance with s 50 of the Evidence Act

14. The applicant financiers made extensive use of summary documents that were prepared pursuant to s 50 of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) which were, save for one exception, not contested. I will refer to the s 50 summaries in context in addressing the evidence below.

15. Mr Tesoriero objected to the entirety of the s 50 summary titled “Payments to, or on behalf of, Vince Tesoriero”. This summary document lists payments made to third party entities and to 286 Carlisle Street (a Tesoriero Entity) from an account in the name of FGFS, pursuant to emails from Mr Tesoriero directing payment to these entities. For each payment, the summary document identifies the total amount of funds from each financier. The objection taken by Mr Tesoriero was that the document draws conclusion or makes inference from documents which are not tendered and are not otherwise identified. Counsel for Mr Tesoriero suggested that the summary document should be amended to identify the primary documents evidencing the direction component of the evidence relied on for the submission, that the underlying documents be tendered and that the name of the document be corrected to be “Payments Concerning Vince Tesoriero”. An updated version of the summary was tendered during the hearing with minor amendments which did not impact the nature of the objection. The parties agreed to the tender of the summary with a revised heading and the tender of ten additional documents.

    C.              OVERVIEW OF THE FRAUD

16. The frauds against Westpac and SMBC are alleged to have commenced at different times in 2018. The fraud against Societe Generale is alleged to have commenced in November 2020. In each case the fraud continued until detected in about June 2021. Each financier alleges that it was defrauded of the millions of dollars which it advanced pursuant to the documented arrangements it had with companies in the Consolidated Group.

17. The frauds alleged by each of the financiers are conceptually similar notwithstanding that the documented arrangements between the Forum entities and the individual financiers are bespoke to each financier.

    C.1            The Documented Arrangements

18. In their evidence each financier has meticulously detailed the fraudulent transaction documents by which the fraud on them was effected. Westpac tendered a comprehensive s 50 summary of fraudulent transaction documents which is engrossed to reference the underlying primary documents which are in evidence. Engrossed versions of the customer affidavits cross-reference to the s 50 summary. SMBC also rely on a comprehensive s 50 summary of fraudulent transaction documents which is supported by a list of the underlying primary documents. Societe Generale do not have an analogous s 50 summary because of the relatively short duration of the period in which it was actively advancing funding. Instead, Societe Generale has tendered the underlying transactions documents which are supplemented by a thematic chronology which references the fraudulent transaction documents. Based on this evidence, I make the following broad findings in relation to the way in which the fraud was effected on each of the financiers. My reasons for reaching these conclusions are in Section I below.

19. In each fraud, the duped financier entered into arrangements to provide finance to enable third party customers to lease or licence equipment sourced through Forum related entities. On the surface, the Forum business model operated by presenting financiers with equipment financing packages in which a Forum entity acted as an intermediary between the financier and the customer who took delivery of the financed equipment. On the face of the relevant contractual and related documents, the detail of which is addressed in Section I.26 to I.32, each financier agreed to advance funds to a Forum company for the purpose of that company supplying equipment to customers for lease or license and in return the financier acquired from the relevant Forum company the receivable income stream comprising the usage payments due from the customer under the Forum lease or licence. The financier also took an equitable interest in the relevant equipment the subject of the lease or licence. Nothing turns on whether the arrangements took the form of leases as opposed to licences. For convenience I will describe the arrangements purportedly involving customers as leases. 

20. In some cases, but not all, a third party agent of the relevant financier acted as an intermediary (or broker) in the dealings between the financier and the relevant Forum company. As mentioned, WBC’s and Societe Generale’s agent was Eqwe and SMBC’s agent was Flexirent.

21. In the main, the customers were large, well known Australian companies, usually with operations in multiple locations across Australia. They included, for example, Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd, a waste management company, and Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, a major chain of supermarkets in Australia.

22. The assets the subject of the equipment agreements included waste digesters (machines used to transform solid organic waste into liquid), surfacides (machines which use ultra-violet light to disinfect surface areas), GPS tracking devices, and multi-function office machines (machines which print, scan and transmit documents). On the face of the documented arrangements, these assets were sourced from or through entities in or related to the Consolidated Group and delivered to customers at diverse locations across Australia.

23. Pursuant to the impugned arrangements, WBC advanced about $341 million in the period from about September 2018 to June 2021; WNZL advanced about NZD $58 million in the period from about December 2018 to June 2021; SMBC advanced about $113 million in the period from about August 2018 to May 2021; and Societe Generale advanced about $8.9 million in the period from about March 2021 to May 2021.

    C.2            Discovery of the fraud by the financiers

    C.2.1Westpac

24. The fraud was first discovered by Westpac in about June 2021. At that time, Ms Carly Rossbach-Smith, Treasury Operations Manager, WesTrac Pty Limited, alerted Westpac to issues concerning certain Forum Finance transactions in which it had been represented to Westpac that WesTrac had purportedly purchased equipment from Forum Finance to the tune of about $9.7 million. Ms Rossbach‑Smith’s inquiries revealed that WesTrac only had one printer/photocopier arrangement in place with Forum and that was in the amount of around $1.6 million. Ms Rossbach‑Smith was unable to reconcile the $9.7 million drawdown which Westpac attributed to WesTrac. In addition, she identified that documents held by Westpac which were purportedly signed by Mr Jarvas Croome, WesTrac CEO, were not in fact signed by him. Ms Rossbach-Smith reported the result of her inquiries to Westpac, and this ultimately led to the discovery of the fraud.

25. Westpac issued a demand on 15 June 2021 to Forum Finance to repurchase certain receivables relating to WesTrac. A meeting was arranged between Mr Papas and WesTrac. It was scheduled to be held on 16 June 2021. The scheduled meeting with Mr Papas did not take place. Movement records maintained by the Department of Home Affairs confirm that Mr Papas in fact left Australia on 16 June 2021. As at 30 July 2021, he had not returned. There is no evidence to suggest that he has returned since.

26. Mr Papas’ departure appears to have been in train from at least 6 May 2021 when he applied for an exemption from the COVID-19 travel restrictions on international travel to leave Australia on 20 May 2021 to go to Greece for a period of three weeks. A letter in support of Mr Papas’ application signed by Mr Craig Rollinson as Executive Director of Iugis on 6 May 2021 indicated that it was essential for Mr Papas to travel to Greece at this time to oversee and facilitate the finalisation of multiple major contracts through Iugis’ subsidiaries in Greece and the Middle East

27. In response to the demand, Westpac was paid a total of approximately $4,425,358 in two tranches on 16 and 17 June 2021 by Forum Finance. On 17 June 2021, Westpac confirmed receipt of $4,425,358 and demanded payment of the outstanding amount of approximately $5,199,433 by 18 June 2021.  Viewed in context, these payments made in June 2021 to Westpac were tactical. They were directed to delaying Westpac from taking recovery action and were made contemporaneously with Mr Papas leaving the country.

    C.2.2SMBC

28. The fraud was first discovered by SMBC in about July 2021. Mr Michael Timpany, Director of SMBC Sydney Branch, sent an email to Forum Enviro personnel (including Mr Papas and Mr Bouchahine) about an unpaid Veolia‑related payment which had fallen due on 30 June 2021. Following the exchange of several emails, on 2 July 2021 Mr Papas informed SMBC that “significant issues have arisen on our business” and requested that SMBC wait several days before taking action. Mr Timpany’s repeated requests for further information about the nature of the “significant” issues were left unanswered by Mr Papas or anyone from the Forum companies.

29. On 2 July 2021, Mr Timpany became aware of media reports regarding the Westpac Proceeding. Shortly after, SMBC obtained the necessary consent from Flexirent to contact Veolia directly to discuss the lease agreements ostensibly between Veolia and Forum Enviro. Ms Gurpreet Brar, CEO of Veolia India and former CFO of Veolia at the relevant times, confirmed that each of the 23 contractual documents and purported confirmation emails which ostensibly bore her signature were not signed or approved by her and appeared to be forged. Ms Brar also gave evidence that she had not seen the relevant leases before July 2021 when they were provided to her by SMBC’s solicitors. Other Veolia executives (including Mr Lorenzo Kozlovic, Mr Julian Gaillard and Mr Daniel Conlon) similarly confirmed that their purported signatures on the leases were forged and bore no resemblance to their real signatures.

    C.2.3Societe Generale

30. The fraud was first discovered by Societe Generale in about June 2021 through conversations between Mr Gregory Thong, then Head of Corporate Coverage at Societe Generale, and Mr Luke Price and Mr Mike Sheeran, directors of Eqwe. On 21 June 2021, Mr Price and Mr Sheeran called Mr Thong and referred to Forum Finance having “some issues with Westpac”. On 23 June 2021, an in-person meeting was held at Eqwe’s offices with Mr Price, Mr Sheeran and Mr Thong to discuss the Westpac transactions and Societe Generale’s exposure. From this point in time, Societe Generale received updates on the Westpac Proceeding as the Westpac investigations progressed.

31. Mr Thong also contacted Ms Brar directly, including a telephone call on 24 June 2021 asking Ms Brar to check the signatures on three Societe Generale transactions. Upon reviewing the Societe Generale transaction documents, Ms Brar confirmed that the signatures had been forged on all three documents.

32. Mr Thong and Mr Price made further enquiries of Veolia representatives between 26 June 2021 and 28 June 2021, who confirmed that the product serial numbers did not correlate with the equipment that Veolia had leased from Iugis.

33. During this time, Societe Generale’s primary contact at Forum was Mr Rollinson rather than Mr Papas. Mr Tesoriero deposes that he understood that Mr Rollinson had been acting as CEO since at least 18 June 2021 when Mr Papas “disappeared”. Mr Rollinson was not a party to any of the proceedings and did not provide an affidavit or otherwise give evidence in the proceeding.

    C.3            The reality of the arrangements

34. In stark contrast to the apparent operation of the arrangements, the financiers allege that the documented arrangements were fictitious, and the relevant documents were falsified in key respects. The financiers contend that the documentation between them and the Forum entities was nothing but a veneer for an audacious fraud.

35. The financiers contend that:

    (1)The assets purportedly the subject of the impugned arrangements were not possessed by the relevant Forum company and were not supplied to the purported customers. Thus, the financiers did not obtain any equitable interests in the assets, purportedly the subject of the arrangements;

    (2)The agreements and related documents purportedly executed by, or emanating from, the purported customers were forged and were not executed or despatched by the customers. Instead, the financiers, or their agents, were supplied with forged documents.

    (3)Accordingly, the purported customers owed no obligation to make the monthly usage payments in respect of the assets with which they were purportedly supplied. In short, the receivables income stream due from the customers under the lease agreements, which the relevant Forum company purported to assign to the financiers (whether directly or where applicable through the financier’s agent), did not exist; and

    (4)In fact, the monthly payments made to financiers, that ostensibly represented receivables in accordance with the documented arrangements, were made by Forum companies, often using tainted funds traceable to advances made by one or more of the financiers, and were not monthly usage payments made by purported customers. These payments served to cloak the fraud at the heart of the arrangements by giving the appearance that receivables were being paid in accordance with the documented arrangements.

1. As to what happened to the vast sums advanced by the financiers pursuant to the impugned arrangements, the financiers contend that upon receipt, the funds were transferred by the relevant recipient in the Consolidated Group company to FGFS, the private company of Mr Papas and Mr Tesoriero, and then deployed to fund personal projects of Mr Papas and/or Mr Tesoriero including property developments, holiday houses, maintenance and storage of a yacht, luxury cars, race cars, racehorses, jewellery, and Xanthi FC, a Greek football team.

2. The amount claimed in each of the proceedings is, at least for some of the causes of action, less than the amount advanced by the financier. As mentioned, in the period before the frauds were discovered, Forum companies made some of the monthly payments due under the impugned arrangements as if the receivables had been collected from customers. These cloaking payments served to prolong the period in which the fraud went undetected but also serve to reduce the principal amount claimed by each financier in respect of some of the claims for relief. In WBC’s case, the payments made in response to the demands made in June 2021 also reduce the total amount that is being claimed in respect of some of the causes of action.

3. In broad terms, and subject to submissions in relation to relief, the cloaking payments made to each of the financiers were approximately as follows:

   (1)WBC received $82,453,096, (calculated by taking the total amount paid by WBC to Forum Finance and subtracting the amount claimed as outstanding by WBC, then further subtracting certain direct debits made from Eqwe to WBC following discovery of the fraud and the payments made pursuant to the repurchase demand on 15 June 2021);  

   (2)WNZL received NZD $17,325,824, comprising 48 payments made under the Iugis NZ Financing Programme between 7 February 2019 and 15 July 2021;

   (3)SMBC received $30,556,390, comprising 57 monthly payments made by Forum Enviro (Aust) between 30 August 2018 and 28 May 2021; and

   (4)Societe Generale received $298,800, comprising three monthly payments between 31 March 2021 and 28 May 2021 in connection with one transaction totalling $252,000 and one payment for a separate transaction on 28 May 2021 totalling $46,800.

4. The internal process by which the fraud was administered was exposed in an email communication that dates from the time when the financiers were scrambling to obtain a picture of what had in fact gone on. By way of context, for example, Westpac alerted customers, including Coles and Scentre, of their concerns that scheduled payments under the Eqwe/Forum Finance programme were not being paid in accordance with the contractual arrangements and that they had commenced internal reviews to reconcile the payment schedules purportedly signed by the customers. Some customers, including Coles and Scentre, forwarded the emails that they had received from the Westpac to Mr Tas Papas who in turn forwarded the email to Mr Rollinson. The customers expressed their confusion about the communications they had received and requested an explanation from Forum in relation to, amongst other things, the payment schedules purportedly signed by the customers.

5. As the pressure was building for Forum to provide a substantive response to customers and the financiers, Mr Rollinson was forwarded a copy of an email from Mr Brandon Chin (an employee who worked as an accountant for FGFS and reported to Mr Bouchahine) in which he described the way in which the “funding processes” were reflected in FGFS and Forum’s business records. I address in greater detail Mr Chin’s role in relation to the preparation and circulation of excel workbooks under Mr Bouchahine’s supervision which are relevant to the actual mechanics of how the fraud was affected in Section I.22. Westpac rely on the excel worksheets to prove that Mr Tesoriero and Mr Bouchahine had actual knowledge of the fraud.

6. On 29 June 2021, Ms Orlandini sent an internal Forum email to Mr Rollinson in which she said: “As requested below is a detailed list of Forum and FGFS accounting processes”. By this email, Ms Orlandini forwarded an email from Mr Chin, with the subject “Funding Processes – FGFS”. In his email, under the subject line “Funding Processes – FGFS”, Mr Chin sets out “a bit of a brain dump” but one which he hopes makes “structured sense”.

7. At the time of sending his “brain dump” email, Mr Chin no longer worked for Forum. The email is sent from his Gmail account rather than a Forum email address. Mr Chin resigned on 15 June 2021, but Mr Bouchahine said that he thought that Mr Chin had resigned earlier.

8. Westpac featured this email in its oral opening submissions. SMBC closed on the actual operation of the fraud by reference to this email.

9. In his email, Mr Chin lists the steps for each of the funding processes and “money movements” for Westpac (through its agents “BHO” and “BHO NZ”) and SMBC. I infer that the word “BHO” is a reference to BHD Leasing Pty Limited trading as BHO Finance, which acted as Westpac’s agent at this time pursuant to a Principal and Agency Agreement, and, in due course, later became Eqwe.

10. In effect, the actual arrangements, as described by Mr Chin, commenced with raising a nominal invoice in the account of Forum Enviro (Aust), processing the invoice through FGFS, then FGFS handing the money back to Forum Enviro (Aust) to repay to Westpac or SMBC as a monthly return. Mr Chin says that Forum Finance kept no records of the flow of funds.

11. Under the heading “BHO Funding Process”, Mr Chin identified the following steps and his recollection of repository where the relevant documents were kept:

    1. Contract paperwork provided to BHO

    2. Receive email from BHO (Katrina Constable) confirming settlement date, settlement amount, paperwork and PPSR (BHO and Forum Finance)

    3. We register PPSR on our side (Forum Finance and Customer) and provide back to BHO

    4. Money is received into "Forum Finance Westlawn" bank account (movements below)

    5. Contract set up for monthly billing in Forum Enviro (Aust) to the customer (ALH, Coles, Veolia etc) - This is in BMS (prehistoric system)

    6. Invoices raised in FE (Aust) monthly to the individual customer

    7. FGFS processes these invoices into its' books and pays these invoices to FE (Aust)

    8. FE (Aust) repays BHO the monthly amount

    Contract files and PPSRs saved in drive (this is from memory but Fiona will know where they are saved): FGFS Documents>Dropbox - BPVT>Forum Enviro (Aust)>AU Settlement

12. Under the heading “BHO Money Movements”, Mr Chin identified the following movements and record-keeping:

    1. Forum Finance Westlawn - Money in and out to FGFS. No records kept in company books of Forum Finance

    2. FGFS - Money received, put on balance sheet in BHO Clearing Account. FGFS pay money to FE (Aust) via invoices

    3. FE (Aust) receive money from FGFS but allocate it against the invoices it raises in the system to the customer.

    4. BHO repaid by FE (Aust) monthly on 1st and 15th.

    The BHO repayment schedule is saved in the FG AP team's files (again from memory but Fiona or Rebecca Huang can pull up the doc): AP Team Files (they called it something silly, but I can't remember the exact name)>Accounts Folder>Balance Sheet Reconciliation>BHO>21616 BHO.. something

13. Under the heading “SMBC Funding Process”, Mr Chin sets out a corresponding framework for SMBC:

    I guess this is also going to be a similar situation to the BHO stuff above - relatively new, so only a few "deals" exist.

    1. Contract paperwork provided to SMBC via Alex Colbert

    2. SMBC settlement amount received into FE (Aust) bank account (money movements below)

    3. Email Alex Colbert for copy of all paperwork to set up contracts

    4. Contract set up for billing in Forum Enviro (Aust) to the customer (ALH, Coles, Veolia etc) - again, in BMS

    5. Invoices raised in FE (Aust) monthly to the individual customer

    6. FGFS processes these invoices into its' books and pays these invoices to FE (Aust)

    7. FE (Aust) repays SMBC the monthly amount

    Documents saved in FGFS documents: (somewhere in the ballpark of). Repayment schedule (similar to the BHO stuff above) is also saved in the same location FGFS Documents>Dropbox - BPVT>Forum Enviro (Aust)>SMBC Settlement

14. I note that Mr Alex Colbert previously worked for Flexirent and from 2020, assisted Mr Papas in engaging directly with SMBC. Under the heading “SMBC Money Movements”, Mr Chin explained:

    1. FE (Aust) - Money in and out to FGFS. No records kept in company books of FE (Aust)

    2. FGFS - Money received, put on balance sheet in SMBC Clearing Account. FGFS pay money to FE (Aust) via invoices

    3. FE (Aust) receive money from FGFS but allocate it against the invoices it raises in the system to the customer.

    4. SMBC repaid by FE (Aust) at the end of every month based on a loan schedule provided by SMBC.

15. Mr Chin’s email also included the subheading “Additional Notes: (mainly for your reference, as I feel some of this Tony might not want too many parties to know)”. I infer that “Tony” is a reference to Mr Bouchahine.

16. Returning to Mr Chin’s email, under the Additional Notes subheading, Mr Chin includes the following information:

    - FE (Aust) just sees money coming in for invoices it has raised, and pays this back to the funder. In a perfect world, it would be money in from invoicing equals exact money repaid, but there have been errors in the set up of contracts, which will make it hard to identify but have since been fixed, but that is the aim.

    - BHO settlements have no GST, but the monthly invoices that FGFS processes into the system do, so there is a very large supposed tax refund sitting on FGFS' balance sheet (in the 10s of millions). Tony would always say he needs Lou's advice on how to treat this, as we wanted it to offset each other to net 0.

    - FE (Aust) invoices to customers were manually changed using PDF editor to put FGFS' name and details on them

    - Some BHO funding monthly repayments are paid directly by Forum Group (also identified in the BHO repayment schedule excel document).

    - Also meaning they have contracts that are billed monthly, then processed and paid by FGFS, same way as above, with these invoices also being PDF edited.

    - From memory, they are for customers: Westrac, HWL and Cerebral. 9 monthly invoices in total.

17. Critically, this contemporaneous email confirmed during the fraud, Forum and FGFS had in place an internal system (albeit, an imperfect one) whereby payments were processed through FGFS and critical transaction documents were manually altered (“PDF edited”) in order to maintain an external appearance of legitimacy. Mr Bouchahine referred in his affidavit to the process of changing the invoices in this way.

18. Mr Chin described a similar process for “NZ Settlements”, noting the following differences between the Australian and New Zealand arrangements:

    BHO NZ Settlements do also exist... listed below. A bit more of a mess as:

    - Bookkeeping for Iugis NZ is done by Nat and Chris (not sure how they book it in)

    - Money is only transferred from NZ to FGFS when needed, rather than an in-and-out like in Forum Finance

    - Money is still transferred via loans (no NZ invoices are processed into FGFS)

    - BHO NZ Settlements have GST, but repayments are from AU, so no GST can be recognised on this side as it is across international borders. Another GST issue that we needed Lou to advise because we wanted it to also offset and net 0.

19. Under the heading “BHO NZ Settlements”, Mr Chin explained the following process:

    1. Contract paperwork provided to BHO

    2. Receive email from BHO (Katrina Constable) confirming settlement date, settlement amount, paperwork

    3. Money is received into Iugis NZ Ltd bank account - NZ bank account held with ANZ NZ (movements below)

    5. Contract set up in a fake Iugis NZ entity so monthly invoices can be generated with GST at NZ rate of 15%. (We tried to do in FE (Aust) but it could not do the 15% GST)

    6. Invoices raised in the above entity monthly to the individual customer (Veolia)

    7. FE (Aust) repays BHO NZ the monthly amount in NZD (international transaction) and puts this into the general ledger code 11670, which is the FGFS loan.

    8. FGFS recognises this loan in its' books as well

    Contract files saved in drive: FGFS Documents>Dropbox - BPVT>Forum Enviro (Aust)>NZ Settlement

20. Under the heading “BHO NZ Money Movements”, Mr Chin explained:

    1. Money received into Iugis NZ bank account. Nat and Chris do the bookkeeping for this entity

    2. FGFS - Money received, put on balance sheet in BHO NZ Clearing Account. FGFS pay money to FE (Aust) if needed via a loan

    3. FE (Aust) receive money from FGFS (if applicable)

    4. BHO NZ repaid by FE (Aust) monthly on 1st and 15th.

    This repayment schedule is also in same file as the BHO AU repayment schedule: AP Team Files (they called it something silly, but I can't remember the exact name)>Accounts Folder>Balance Sheet Reconciliation>BHO>21616 BHO.. something

21. This articulation of the funding processes is consistent with the diagram prepared by Mr Chin described as “an overview of some of the FGFS/FE Aust processes”, sent to Mr Stefanetti and Mr Bouchahine on 3 September 2020. Mr Bouchahine was cross-examined on this diagram and confirmed that diagram accurately reflected his recollection of the relevant money flow as at the period September 2018 onward. I infer that this diagram was likely prepared for the purpose of obtaining the GST advice that is referred to in Mr Chin’s “brain dump” email.

22. Under the heading “BHO and SMBC Funding Process” is a flow chart providing for the following steps:

    BHO settle funds into FF, which transfer to FGFS

    •In-out FF

    •FGFS BHO Clearing account

    •no GST

    Contract set up in FE Aust.

    FE Aust raise monthly invoice to FGFS

    •Inc GST Invoices

    •GST Liability in FE Aust = 600k

    FGFS process invoice into system

    •FGFS GST Receivable = 600k

    FGFS Pays FE Aust

    •Clears debtors in FE Aust

    FE Aust Pays BHO

    •No GST Funding, therefore, no GST on repayments

23. Under the heading “FGFS Funding Process” is a similar, much simpler, flow chart providing for the following steps:

    FGFS funds FG and Iugis deals - i.e. invoices raised to FGFS

    •Small Deals for FG; bigger Iugis deals via loan account (no cash movement)

    •GST receivable

    FGFS raise monthly Invoice to Forum Group and Iugis for no billing contracts

    •FGFS GST liability = ~30k

    •not enough to offset 600k from FE Aust + Settlements

    FG and Iugis pay FGFS

    •Clear FGFS debtors

24. Under the heading “Other FGFS Processes”, other considerations are listed including “Wages”, “Fund Iugis Operations via Loans: AU, UK, Greece, Germany, UAE”, “Fund Overseas Transactions and Acquisitions” and “Fund Property and Vehicles”.

    C.4            The essential features of the fraud that were critical to its success

25. The financiers contend that there were four essential features of the fraud that were critical to its success.

26. First, historically Forum had in fact supplied some equipment to customers. This enabled Forum representatives to take representatives of the financiers to particular customers’ premises to demonstrate the equipment in use.

27. Secondly, Forum made cloaking payments purportedly by way of the monthly receivables income stream which the financiers were expecting to receive, thereby perpetuating the illusion that arrangements were legitimate.

28. Thirdly, the customers which purportedly entered into the leasing arrangements with the Forum entities were wholly unaware of the arrangements and in the main did not interact directly with the financiers or their agents/brokers.

29. Fourthly and finally, the customers allegedly purchasing the equipment were well-known, established companies, imbuing the arrangement with an air of legitimacy which was another factor in forestalling the financiers’ suspicions being aroused.

30. In relation to the last feature identified, I would add that the individuals featured as representatives of each of the alleged customers were real people who were relevantly employed by the companies concerned and who, in the main, held positions within those companies as identified in the falsified documents, and who based on the their respective position titles would be expected to have authority to approve entry into the underlying purchase and lease agreements.

    C.5            Intended and actual structure of the scheme and flow of funds

31. The financiers relied on a series of aide mémoires in their submissions. The aide mémoires were supported by the evidence before me, including comprehensive s 50 summaries and the tracing evidence given by the liquidators and relied on by the financiers.

32. The first group of aide mémoires was directed to illustrating the structure of the arrangements that were in place between the Primary Recipients and the Financiers that became host to the fraudulent schemes. Although these aide mémoires were not uniform between the financiers, they are useful as a convenient snapshot of the way in which the scheme operated, the way in which the operation of the scheme departed from the documented arrangements to which the financiers had agreed, and the way in which funds were ultimately distributed to the respondents. My detailed reasons in relation to these topics are in Sections I.22 to I.31 of these reasons.

33. The second group of aide mémoires was provided by Westpac and SMBC. They each provided diagrams illustrating the ultimate flow of the funds that they had each respectively advanced to the Primary Recipients to the respondents. 

34. The third aide mémoire was provided by Westpac. It is an “amended summary of payments to, or on behalf of, respondents” that traces the total amount of the funds held by each respondent which derive from the tainted funds advanced by the financiers collectively, and also within that total, the amount of funds derived from each financier individually.

35. In the balance of this section, I will introduce and annex each of the aide mémoires that may be of use in following the detailed reasons given on these topics in Section I.

    C.5.1Intended structure and actual structure

36. The tension between the documented versus the actual arrangements which I have described is summarised in a set of aide mémoires which the financiers used in their submissions.

    C.5.1.1Westpac

37. Westpac provided two separate diagrams. The first depicted the documented arrangements (Annexure B). The second compared the documented arrangements with the reality of how the scheme was in fact operated (Annexure C). I note that due to multiple references in these reasons to the contemporaneous document titled ‘Annexure A’ to the payment schedules created by Forum (discussed at Section I.3 below), the annexures to these reasons commence at Annexure B.

38. The first diagram sets out the intended structure of the scheme and illustrates the intended flow of funds, assignment of rights and equipment between the financier, the relevant Forum entity, the broker, the customer and the equipment manufacturer. In terms of fund flow the documented structure relevantly includes:

    (1)Forum Finance paying an equipment manufacturer for equipment and supplying equipment to the customer;

    (2)Westpac paying the purchase price invoice for the equipment directly to Forum Finance;

    (3)The customer making monthly rental payments to the Eqwe Westpac Bank Account for the benefit of Westpac who received the payments by way of direct debit from the Eqwe Westpac Bank Account.

39. The second diagram is a comparison of the intended structure and the fraudulent Scheme. A series of red arrows are overlaid on the diagram of the intended structure to demonstrate the actual flow of funds between the parties. It relevantly shows that, in contrast to the intended structure, for each of the fraudulent transactions there was no authentic customer or equipment manufacturer. Instead, Forum Finance disbursed the funds that Westpac had advanced with the result that some of those funds were transferred into the Eqwe Westpac Bank Account to simulate monthly rental payments and the balance of the funds were transferred to related Forum entities.

    C.5.1.2SMBC

Annexure L – Two page extract from Mr Papas’ original bound notebook

Annexure M – Principal Entities, Individuals and Properties (not exhaustive)

Row No.	Name	Description	Respondent Category
1	10 James Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
2	1160 Glen Huntly Road Pty Ltd ACN 639 447 984	14R – Fourteenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
3	1160 Glen Huntly Road, Glen Huntly VIC 3163	Real Property
4	12 Hartington Street, Elsternwick VIC 3185	Real Property
5	12 James Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
6	123 High Street Taradale Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 639 872 512	17R – Seventeenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
7	124 High Street, Taradale VIC 3447	Real Property
8	14 James Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 638 449 206	9R – Ninth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Jointly Owned Entity
9	14 James Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Property
10	14 Kirwin Road Morwell Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 641 402 093	15R – Fifteenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
11	14 Kirwin Road, Morwell VIC 3840	Real Property
12	15 Main Street, Derrinallum VIC 3325	Real Property
13	16 James Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
14	160 Murray Valley Highway, Lake Boga VIC 3584	Real Property
15	160 Murray Valley Hwy Lake Boga Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 641 392 921	18R – Eighteenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
16	18 James Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
17	193 Carlisle Street Enterprises Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 612 615 237	40R – Fortieth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
18	2 Cowslip Street, Violet Town VIC 3669	Real Property
19	23 Margaret Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (ACN 623 715 373)	13R – Thirteenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 23R – Twenty Third Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
20	23 Margaret Street, Rozelle NSW 2039	Real Property
21	2-4 Atherton Road, Oakleigh VIC 3166	Real Property
22	26 Edmondstone Road, Bowen Hills QLD 4006	Real Property
23	275 High Street Golden Square Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 639 870 545	26R – Twenty Sixth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
24	286 Carlisle Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 610 042 343	25R – Twenty Fifth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 24R – Twenty Fourth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
25	305/48 and 306/48 Blenheim Street, Balaclava VIC 3185	Real Property
26	31 Ellerman Street Dimboola Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 641 392 887	19R – Nineteenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
27	31 Ellerman Street Dimboola VIC 3414	Real Property
28	4 Cowslip Street Violet Town Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 639 872 352	20R – Twentieth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
29	5 Bulkara Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 630 982 160	11R – Eleventh Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 21R – Twenty First Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Jointly Owned Entity
30	5 Bulkara Street, Wagstaffe 2257	Real Property
31	55 Nolan Street Maryborough Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 641 392 912	21R – Twenty First Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
32	55 Nolan Street, Maryborough VIC 3465	Real Property
33	6 Bulkara Street Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 639 734 473	12R – Twelfth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 22R – Twenty Second Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Jointly Owned Entity
34	6 Bulkara Street, Wagstaffe 2257	Property	Jointly Owned Real Property
35	64-66 Berkeley St Hawthorn Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (ACN 643 838 662) (64-66 Berkeley Street)	8R – Eighth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 25R – Twenty Fifth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Jointly Owned Entity
36	64-66 Berkeley Street, Hawthorn VIC 3122	Real Property
37	8 Olive Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
38	8-12 Natalia Ave Oakleigh Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 643 838 626 (8-12 Natalia Avenue)	41R – Forty First Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 26R – Twenty Sixth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
39	8-12 Natalia Avenue, Oakleigh VIC 3167	Real Property
40	89 Betka Road Mallacoota Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 641 393 179	22R – Twenty Second Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
41	89 Betka Road, Mallacoota VIC 3892	Real Property
42	9 Gregory Street Ouyen Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 641 392 707	23R – Twenty Third Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
43	9 Gregory Street, Ouyen VIC 3490	Real Property
44	9 Main Street Derrinallum Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 639 872 736	24R – Twenty Fourth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
45	9-13 Main Street, Derrinallum VIC 3325	Real Property
46	A Giamouridis P.C., with the distinctive title “GIAMOURIDIS INDUSTRIAL WORKSHOP” in the Greek Commercial Registry	50R – Fiftieth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
47	Agostino, Louisa	47R – Forty Seventh Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
48	Allen, Paul	Liquidator
49	ALLF Pty Ltd	Maia related company
50	Anderson, Geoffrey	Director of Asset Finance, WIB	Westpac employee evidence
51	Aramia Holdings Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 114 958 717	28R – Twenty Eighth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
52	Aromatika Fyta Tsai Olympou Theion Ike	49R – Forty Ninth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
53	Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group Pty Ltd (ALH)	Customer	Westpac customer evidence
54	BHD Leasing Pty Ltd ACN 154 478 707 (trading as BHO Finance)
55	BHO Funding Pty Ltd	BHO Finance related entity
56	Blizzard, Daniel	CEO, Maia
57	Bouchahine, Moussa (Tony)	46R – Forty Sixth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
58	Bower, Neil	Senior Relationship Manager, Westpac Commercial Banking
59	Brar, Gurpreet	CEO, Veolia India Former CFO, Veolia	Westpac, SMBC and Societe Generale customer evidence
60	Canner Investments Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 624 176 049	16R – Sixteenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
61	Catholic Healthcare Limited ABN 69 064 946 318 (CHC)	Customer	Westpac customer evidence
62	Chapman, Trevor	Head of Credit Restructuring, WNZL	Westpac employee evidence
63	Cheal, Brett	Senior Director, Maia
64	Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd	Customer	Westpac customer evidence
65	Conlon, Daniel	Managing Director and CEO, Veolia	SMBC customer evidence
66	Constantinidis, Eric	44R – Forty Forth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding (discontinued)
67	Croome, Jarvas	CEO, WesTrac	Westpac customer evidence
68	D&D Group O.E	48R – Forty Eighth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
69	de Silva, Rohan	Senior Category Manager, Coles	Westpac customer evidence
70	Dobson, Roger	Partner, Jones Day	SMBC other evidence
71	Dumont, Nicolas	Chief Operating Officer, 29H (Private Banking Division), Societe Generale	Societe Generale employee evidence
72	26 Edmonstone Road Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 622 944 129 26	10R – Tenth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 20R – Twentieth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding
73	Eggermont, Lize	NMF
74	Eliatamby, Marie-Lyse	General Counsel, Maia
75	Eqwe Pty Ltd ACN 630 535 554	Third party agent
76	Eros Management Pty Ltd	Company wholly owned and controlled by Mr Papas
77	Flanagan, Stacy	Financial Controller, CHC	Westpac customer evidence
78	Flexirent Capital Pty Ltd	Third party agent
79	Forum Enviro (Aust) Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 607 484 364	7R – Seventh Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 1R – Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Consolidated Group Entity
80	Forum Enviro Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 168 709 840	6R – Sixth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 3R – Third Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Consolidated Group Entity
81	Forum Finance Pty Limited (in liquidation) (receivers appointed) ACN 153 301 172	1R – Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 6R – Sixth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding 1R – Respondent – Societe Generale Proceeding	Consolidated Group Entity
82	Forum Fleet Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 155 440 994	8R – Eighth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
83	Forum Group Financial Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 623 033 705 (FGFS)	4R – Fourth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 4R – Fourth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding 3R – Third Respondent – Societe Generale Proceeding	Jointly Owned Entity
84	Forum Group Pty Ltd (Receivers Appointed) (in liquidation) ACN 153 336 997 (FG)	5R – Fifth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 5R – Fifth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Consolidated Group Entity
85	Franklin, Glenn	Liquidator
86	Fridman, Joseph	Director, Maia
87	Gaillard, Julian	Company Secretary, Risk and Insurance, Veolia	SMBC customer evidence
88	Giamouridis, Anastasios	29R – Twenty-Ninth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding (dismissed)
89	Giugni, Paul	General Counsel, Scentre	Westpac customer evidence
90	Grenfell, Andrew	Liquidator	Westpac other evidence
91	Consolidated Group Entities	FGOC, Forum Finance, FG, Forum Enviro and Forum Enviro (Aust)
92	Gupta, Chander	Senior Director, Finance, Maia
93	Hopkins, Kris	Chief Operating Officer, HWLE	Westpac customer evidence
94	Hughes, Michael	Partner, MinterEllison	Westpac other evidence
95	HWL Ebsworth Lawyers (HWLE)	Customer	Westpac customer evidence
96	Imagetec Financial Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 111 978 182 (Imagetec FS)	9R – Ninth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
97	Imagetec Solutions Australia Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 074 715 718	10R – Tenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
98	Intrashield Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 133 426 534	37R – Thirty Seventh Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 11R – Eleventh Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Jointly Owned Entity
99	Ireland, Jason	Liquidator	SMBC other evidence
100	Iugis (NZ) Limited (in liquidation) NZBN 9429046666581 (Iugis NZ)	Formerly Orca Enviro Solutions NZ Limited
101	Iugis (UK) Limited (in liquidation) (UK Company No. 10745974)	32R – Thirty Second Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 16R – Sixteenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
102	Iugis AU	Collectively Forum Enviro (Aust), Forum Enviro, OES and Iugis
103	Iugis Energy SA (Iugis Energy Greece)	43R – Forty Third Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 18R – Eighteenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
104	Iugis Finance Limited (Iugis Finance UK)	35R – Thirty Fifth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
105	Iugis Global Financial Services Limited (Company Number 11785331) (Iugis GFS UK)	34R – Thirty Fourth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
106	Iugis Hellas Ike (Iugis Greece)	42R – Forty Second Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 17R – Seventeenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding (discontinued)	Other Papas-Related Entity
107	Iugis Holdings Limited (UK Company No. 1123437) (Iugis Holdings UK)	33R – Thirty Third Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 15R – Fifteenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding
108	Iugis Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 632 882 243	31R – Thirty First Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 13R – Thirteenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
109	Iugis Waste Solutions Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 647 212 299	14R – Fourteenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
110	Johnstone, Kare	Liquidator, Iugis NZ
111	Kozlovic, Lorenzo	Executive General Manager, Veolia Director, Veolia NZ	Westpac and SMBC customer evidence
112	Kumaragamage, Chandana	Head of Legal Technology, MinterEllison	Westpac other evidence
113	LeaseIt	Unregistered entity
114	Macrovue Pty Ltd	Broker used by Mr Papas
115	Maher, David	Managing Director, CHC	Westpac customer evidence
116	Maia Financial Pty Ltd	Formerly Alleasing Pty Ltd
117	Mangusta (Vic) Pty Ltd ACN 631 520 682	39R – Thirty Ninth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
118	Martinez, Juan	Managing Partner, HWLE	Westpac customer evidence
119	Mazcon Investments Hellas Ike	27R – Twenty Seventh Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 19R – Nineteenth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
120	McCoubrie, Darren	CFO, Forum Group
121	Miles, Gregory	Chief Operating Officer, Scentre	Westpac customer evidence
122	Moreton, Brent	Director in the asset finance team, WNZL	Westpac employee evidence
123	Chin, Brandon	Accountant, FGFS
124	Northern Managed Finance (NMF)	Third party agent
125	Orca Enviro Systems Pty Limited (ACN 627 597 782) (OES)
126	Pacific Blue Tax Services Pty Ltd	Accountants
127	Palante Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 135 344 151	28R – Twenty Eighth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 27R – Twenty Seventh Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
128	Papadimitriou, Basile	2R – Second Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 2R – Second Respondent – SMBC Proceeding 2R – Second Respondent – Societe Generale Proceeding
129	Papas, Tas	Mr Papas’ brother
130	Parikh, Vinay	Procurement Manager, Coles	Westpac customer evidence
131	Phillips, Suzi	Mr Papas' executive assistant
132	Pinker, David	Director, FGOC
133	Preston, Jason	Liquidator	Westpac and Societe Generale other evidence
134	Price, Luke	Director, Eqwe
135	Rollinson, Craig	Executive Director, Iugis
136	Rossbach-Smith, Carly	Treasury Operations Manager, WesTrac	Westpac customer evidence
137	Scentre Group Limited	Customer	Westpac customer evidence
138	Sheeran, Mike	Director, Eqwe
139	Sher, Gavin	Chief Financial and Operations Officer, Maia
140	Smith, Trevor	National Food Manager, ALH	Westpac customer evidence
141	Spartan Consulting Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 168 989 544	36R – Thirty Sixth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 12R – Twelfth Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Other Papas-Related Entity
142	Stack, Randyl	Head of Customer Lifecycle Management, Head of Operations, WIB	Westpac employee evidence
143	Stefanetti, Lou	Accountant, Pacific Blue Tax Services Pty Ltd
144	Tesoriero Investment Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 161 088 115 (TIG)	38R – Thirty Eighth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding	Tesoriero Entity
145	Tesoriero, Giovanni (John) (Mr Tesoriero Snr)	45R – Forty Fifth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding (settled)
146	Tesoriero, Vincenzo Frank	3R – Third Respondent – Westpac Proceeding
147	The Forum Group of Companies Pty Ltd (in liquidation) ACN 151 964 626 (FGOC)	30R – Thirtieth Respondent – Westpac Proceeding 7R – Seventh Respondent – SMBC Proceeding	Consolidated Group Entity
148	Thong, Gregory	Head of Corporate Coverage, Societe Generale	Societe Generale employee evidence
149	Timpany, Michael	Director, SMBC Sydney Branch	SMBC evidence
150	Triantafyllou, Louis	NMF
151	Tsouskas, Harry	Broker
152	Unit 9, 269-275 High Street, Golden Square, Bendigo VIC 3550	Real Property
153	Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd	Customer	Westpac customer evidence
154	Veolia Environmental Services (NZ) Limited (Veolia NZ)	New Zealand customer	Westpac customer evidence
155	Verginis, Ellias	NMF
156	Wang, Kathleen	Accountant, Forum Group
157	Warehouse 1, 9 Parsons Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
158	Warehouse 2, 9 Parsons Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
159	Warehouse 3, 9 Parsons Street, Clayton South VIC 3169	Real Property
160	Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC)	First Applicant – Westpac Proceeding
161	Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB)	A division of WBC
162	Westpac New Zealand Limited (WNZL)	Second Applicant – Westpac Proceeding
163	WesTrac Pty Limited	Customer	Westpac customer evidence

SCHEDULE OF PARTIES

NSD 616 of 2021
Respondents
Fourth Respondent:	FORUM GROUP FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 623 033 705
Fifth Respondent:	FORUM GROUP PTY LTD (RECEIVERS APPOINTED) (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 153 336 997
Sixth Respondent:	FORUM ENVIRO PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 168 709 840
Seventh Respondent:	FORUM ENVIRO (AUST) PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 607 484 364
Eighth Respondent:	64-66 BERKELEY ST HAWTHORN PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 643 838 662)
Ninth Respondent:	14 JAMES STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 638 449 206
Tenth Respondent:	26 EDMONSTONE ROAD PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 622 944 129
Eleventh Respondent:	5 BULKARA STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 630 982 160
Twelfth Respondent:	6 BULKARA STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 639 734 473
Thirteenth Respondent:	23 MARGARET STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 623 715 373)
Fourteenth Respondent:	1160 GLEN HUNTLY ROAD PTY LTD ACN 639 447 984
Fifteenth Respondent:	14 KIRWIN ROAD MORWELL PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 641 402 093
Sixteenth Respondent:	CANNER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 624 176 049
Seventeenth Respondent:	123 HIGH STREET TARADALE PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 639 872 512
Eighteenth Respondent:	160 MURRAY VALLEY HWY LAKE BOGA PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 641 392 921
Nineteenth Respondent:	31 ELLERMAN STREET DIMBOOLA PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 641 392 887
Twentieth Respondent:	4 COWSLIP STREET VIOLET TOWN PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 639 872 352
Twenty First Respondent:	55 NOLAN STREET MARYBOROUGH PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 641 392 912
Twenty Second Respondent:	89 BETKA ROAD MALLACOOTA PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 641 393 179
Twenty Third Respondent:	9 GREGORY STREET OUYEN PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 641 392 707
Twenty Fourth Respondent:	9 MAIN STREET DERRINALLUM PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 639 872 736
Twenty Fifth Respondent:	286 CARLISLE STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 610 042 343
Twenty Sixth Respondent:	275 HIGH STREET GOLDEN SQUARE PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 639 870 545
Twenty Seventh Respondent:	MAZCON INVESTMENTS HELLAS IKE
Twenty Eighth Respondent:	PALANTE PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 135 344 151
Thirtieth Respondent:	THE FORUM GROUP OF COMPANIES PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 151 964 626
Thirty First Respondent:	IUGIS PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 632 882 243
Thirty Second Respondent:	IUGIS (UK) LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) (UK COMPANY NO. 10745974)
Thirty Third Respondent:	IUGIS HOLDINGS LIMITED (UK COMPANY NO. 1123437)
Thirty Fourth Respondent:	IUGIS GLOBAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED (COMPANY NUMBER 11785331)
Thirty Fifth Respondent:	IUGIS FINANCE LIMITED (COMPANY NUMBER 11124046)
Thirty Sixth Respondent:	SPARTAN CONSULTING GROUP PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 168 989 544
Thirty Seventh Respondent:	INTRASHIELD PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 133 426 534
Thirty Eighth Respondent:	TESORIERO INVESTMENT GROUP PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 161 088 115
Thirty Ninth Respondent:	MANGUSTA (VIC) PTY LTD ACN 631 520 682
Fortieth Respondent:	193 CARLISLE STREET ENTERPRISES PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 612 615 237
Forty First Respondent:	8-12 NATALIA AVE OAKLEIGH PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 643 838 626
Forty Second Respondent:	IUGIS HELLAS IKE
Forty Third Respondent:	IUGIS ENERGY SA
Forty SixthRespondent:	MOUSSA (TONY) BOUCHAHINE
Forty Seventh Respondent:	LOUISA AGOSTINO
Forty Eighth Respondent:	D&D GROUP O.E
Forty Ninth Respondent:	AROMATIKA FYTA TSAI OLYMPOU THEION IKE

NSD 681 of 2021
Respondents
Fourth Respondent:	FORUM GROUP FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 623 033 705
Fifth Respondent:	FORUM GROUP PTY LTD (RECEIVERS APPOINTED) (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 153 336 997
Sixth Respondent:	FORUM FINANCE PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (RECEIVERS APPOINTED) ACN 153 301 172
SeventhRespondent:	THE FORUM GROUP OF COMPANIES PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 151 964 626
EighthRespondent:	FORUM FLEET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 155 440 994
NinthRespondent:	IMAGETEC FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 111 978 182
TenthRespondent:	IMAGETEC SOLUTIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 074 715 718
EleventhRespondent:	INTRASHIELD PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 133 426 534
TwelfthRespondent:	SPARTAN CONSULTING GROUP PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 168 989 544
ThirteenthRespondent:	IUIGIS PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 632 882 243
FourteenthRespondent:	IUGIS WASTE SOLUTIONS PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 647 212 299
FifteenthRespondent:	IUIGIS HOLDINGS LIMITED (UK COMPANY NO. 1123437)
SixteenthRespondent:	IUGIS (UK) LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) (UK COMPANY NO. 10745974)
SeventeenthRespondent:	IUGIS HELLAS IKE (REGISTERED IN THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC)
EighteenthRespondent:	IUGIS ENERGY SA (REGISTERED IN THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC)
NineteenthRespondent:	MAZCON INVESTMENTS HELLAS IKE (REGISTERED IN THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC)
TwentiethRespondent:	26 EDMONSTONE ROAD PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 622 944 129
TwentyFirst Respondent:	5 BULKARA STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 630 982 160
TwentySecond Respondent:	6 BULKARA STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) ACN 639 734 473
TwentyThird Respondent:	23 MARGARET STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 623 715 373)
TwentyFourth Respondent:	286 CARLISLE STREET PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 610 042 343)
TwentyFifth Respondent:	64-66 BERKELEY ST HAWTHORN PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 643 838 662)
TwentySixth Respondent:	8-12 NATALIA AVE OAKLEIGH PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 643 838 626)
TwentySeventh Respondent:	PALANTE PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 135 344 151)
TwentyEighth Respondent:	ARAMIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD (IN LIQUIDATION) (ACN 114 958 717)