Forum Group was an Australian managed services provider offering integrated B2B solutions,[1] including IT,[2] print, environment,[3][4] fleet[5] and security.[6] Founded in 2011 in St Leonards, New South Wales, the business soon became the most elaborate front for a $400m fraud that competes with that of Christopher Skase.[7] Bill Papas who goes by several names, including Basile Papadimitriou,[8] has 10 cars worth in excess of $5 million, 20 plus properties valued at $40 million has successfully funneled Westpac banks money with the help of his confidants all over the world particularly to Greece where he is hiding with his girlfriend Louise Agostino. Forum had been on the BRW Fast Starters for consecutive years and its British subsidiary powerPerfector in the similar business lists.[9][10][11][12][13] Forum had offices in all mainland Australian capital cities, and was the provider of TomTom in Oceania,[14][15][16] being a $60 million per year revenue business.[1][17] Thanks to Papas the business has now been liquidated, over 50% of the staff have been terminated and have not received their entitlements while he is seen drinking cocktails in his luxury abode on the Mediterranean.[18]
 | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Business Services; Information Technology and Solutions |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Basile Papadimitriou (a.k.a. Bill Papas) |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Number of locations | Offices Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/Perth/Gold Coast; 50+ regional dealers |
Area served | Australia and New Zealand |
Key people | Executive Chairman & CEO: Bill Papas |
| Products | Workflow Automation, Managed IT and Cloud Services, Managed Print Services, Fleet Management and GPS Asset Tracking Solutions |
Number of employees | 100 appx ~ since July 2021 |
| Website | www.forumgroup.com.au |
Forum has over 4,500 customers including Metcash, Boston Scientific, Tower of London[19] and Australian Rugby Union. Forum's Enviro services which include fuel[20][21][22][23] and energy reduction,[24][25][26][27] solar panels and waste compounders[28] have been utilised by local councils and Adelaide Town Hall,[29] malls, museums, Westminster Abbey,[30] stadiums and hospitals in Australia as well as in Europe and East Asia too.[20][31][32][33][34][35]
As of 8 July 2021, Forum Group has had administrators appointed, as a result of a $300-$400 million financial scam against Westpac and other banks with forged documents and fraudulent transactions with a subsidiary, Forum Finance.[36] [37] Forum Group was subsequently bought by Our Kloud on 22 July 2021, the sole owner being a cousin of Bill Papas (real name Basile Papadimitriou, who had fled to Greece).[38][39][40][41][42]
On 30 July 2021 in a federal court hearing, Bill Papas was accused of telling lies in his statement to the court. Bill also claimed to not have enough money to fly to Sydney to answer the allegation in the court.[43]
In Bill Papas affidavits that were finally submitted to the Australian courts in early August 2021, Bill claims to be suffering from "Extreme Anxiety" as a result of being involved with the $400M+ scam which is one of the reasons why he has been unable to return to Australia.[44]
In September 2021 it was claimed that Craig Rollinson, a Forum Group Executive was aware of the fraud conducted by Bill Papas as early as 2018 and had failed to take any action with the whistleblower. Further it was claimed that in June/July 2021, presumably just before the collapse of the business, Rollinson had contacted Papas and asked for him to pay for the renovations to his investment property in lieu of bonuses.[45]
On 21 October 2021, the Federal Court of Australia issued an arrest warrant for Papas, deeming that he displayed no genuine effort to return to Australia.[46][47]
In late 2021, Bills Cousin, Eric Constantinidis was challenged about payments he received from Forum at the time of its administration. It appears these funds were used to pay for Bill Papas legal fees.[48]
In January 2022, Justice Michael Lee issued freezing orders on property owned by Louisa (“Louise”) Agostino. It was claimed she sold her apartment in Rozelle, Sydney for $1.1 million and these funds would now be frozen. Further recently Papas in a meeting with the Greek sporting authorities claimed he still owners Xanthi soccer club. Earlier he had told the Federal Court of Australia that he did not own Xanthi.[49]
References
edit- ^ a b "Mid-sized business growth being eroded by disruption: American Express study". Australian Financial Review. 26 August 2015.
- ^ "Upland Software - Cloud-based Enterprise Software Solutions".
- ^ "Forum Group acquires powerPerfector VPO technology".
- ^ "Forum Group launches powerPerfector for SMBs".
- ^ "How small businesses can walk the sustainability talk".
- ^ "Who we are".
- ^ Danckert, Sarah (23 July 2021). "Alleged fraudster Papas' girlfriend lands in Greece as Westpac digs deeper". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ https://neoskosmos.com/en/2024/06/16/news/australia/federal-court-to-deliver-verdict-in-400m-forum-finance-case-involving-bill-pappas-in-october/
- ^ "Field Service Business August 2015". 3 August 2015.
- ^ "BRW Fast Starters 2014". 3 March 2016.
- ^ "National Business Awards finalists announced". 19 August 2010.
- ^ "Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2011: The Premier League".
- ^ Jaggi, Rohit (25 November 2009). "Case study: power efficiency". Financial Times.
- ^ "Forum Fleet Group Presentation".
- ^ B.V., TomTom Telematics. "Find a sales partner—TomTom Telematics AU".
- ^ Howarth, Brad (23 February 2015). "Six ways your business can use tech to win the efficiency war - SmartCompany".
- ^ "The Fifth Estate - Forum Group in expansion drive, sustainably". 11 June 2014.
- ^ "Revealed: where alleged fraudster Bill Papas is holed up". Australian Financial Review. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Forum Enviro Fenic Alpha fuel management solution".
- ^ "Forum Group Presentation incl Fenic".
- ^ "International fuel management solution now available to Australian businesses".
- ^ "Forum Enviro Fenic Fuel Optimisation". Archived from the original on 16 August 2016.
- ^ "powerPerfector VPO - Voltage Power Optimisation by powerPerfector".
- ^ http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/MC34262-D.PDF [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Councils power-up efficiency - Government News". 20 January 2016.
- ^ "- Rexel Energy". 22 April 2013.
- ^ "Imagine a world without food waste in landfill". 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Optimising Voltage Output".
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "グレンカル株式会社".
- ^ "Wellard's WA sheep and lamb plant to cut energy use - Sheep Central". 8 March 2016.
- ^ "Richmond Marketplace makes energy savings".
- ^ "Local councils light the way in the energy efficiency revolution - Government News". June 2015. "Field Service Business Feb 2015 by Westwick-Farrow Media - Issuu". 16 February 2015.
- ^ "NYC law requires businesses to feed food waste to giant metal ORCAs". 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Westpac loses $290 million to 'long-running' and 'calculated' fraud - ABC News". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Lessons from alleged $400m Papas fraud". 16 July 2021.
- ^ "Racecars and seaside apartments: Inside Papas' offshore assets". 21 July 2021.
- ^ "Bill Papas Forum Finance: More money owed by Sydney Olympic FC to directors' companies". 22 July 2021.
- ^ "Embattled Forum Group sold to Our Kloud - ARN". 22 July 2021.
- ^ "'Forum can help': Company at centre of $400m Westpac fraud open for business". 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Bill Papas Forum Finance: Alleged fraudster is holed up in Greece". 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Alleged fraudster claims he's too poor to fly home to answer accusations". News.com.au. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Alleged fraudster suffering from 'extreme anxiety' after getting sued by Westpac". www.abc.net.au. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Papas executive accused of failing to act on 2018 whistleblower report". 27 September 2021.
- ^ "Court issues warrant for arrest of Forum Group's Bill Papas". www.arnnet.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ "Warrant issued for arrest of Bill Papas". Australian Financial Review. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ "Bill Papas' cousin defends $720,000 in payments from alleged fraudster". Bill Papas’ cousin defends $720,000 in payments from alleged fraudster. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Danckert, Sarah (26 January 2022). "Westpac to launch court action in Greece against Bill Papas". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2022.