Anushka Sharma-
Published On: October 20, 2021 at 11:30 IST
The Federal Court issued an Arrest Warrant for alleged Fraudster Bill Papas after he allegedly ignored Court Orders, breached freezing orders, and showed no intention of returning to Australia.
The Warrant paved the door for his extradition from Greece.
This unprecedented order would ordinarily be referred to the Federal Government Agencies, who would then oversee extradition negotiations with Greece to compel Mr Papas to return to Australia, which might take months.
Justice Michael Lee issued a Warrant for Mr Papas’ arrest and detention until he appeared in Court to face charges of Contempt of Court and ‘ Serious accusations ‘ that he was the mastermind behind a $400 million scam against Westpac and other institutional banks.
Mr Papas told the Court in July that he had booked a return trip to Sydney but never boarded it because he had COVID-19. He then claimed he didn’t have enough money to purchase return flights and asked for the freezing orders to be released.
Justice Lee said that the arrest warrant became necessary because Mr Papas displayed no genuine effort to return to Australia and provided ‘ less than satisfactory information to his solicitors ‘ about his whereabouts.
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