The Toplace founder faces questions over a $148,500 payment and an offer of up to $1 million as NSW’s corruption watchdog examines alleged links between property developments and political influence.
By the editorial team
Property developer Jean Nassif has returned to a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing via video link from Lebanon, denying that payments to Liberal Party figures were intended to secure political favours.
Giving evidence for a second day, the founder of the failed Toplace property group was questioned about whether money offered to members of the party was linked to candidate preselections and other political outcomes.
The hearing forms part of Operation Rosny, which is investigating allegations concerning political influence and potential breaches of electoral donation laws.
Counsel assisting the inquiry asked Nassif whether a $148,500 payment to NSW Liberal Party members represented an initial instalment intended to help with preselections and other political objectives.
Nassif said he “might have” handed over the cheque but rejected the suggestion that it was a payment for political favours.
“Not true,” he told the hearing.
His appearance followed evidence given under oath on Monday, when he joined proceedings from his bedroom in Lebanon and acknowledged offering members of the Liberal Party’s right faction, known as the Reformers, up to $1 million if they helped stalled developments move forward.
Nassif has maintained that seeking assistance with those projects did not amount to paying bribes or attempting to influence political outcomes.
The distinction is central to the inquiry’s examination of whether payments were intended to secure outcomes favourable to his developments.
During Monday’s evidence, Nassif said he wanted former NSW police minister David Elliott and former NSW building commissioner David Chandler “off my back”.
Those remarks were made as he rejected allegations that his dealings with political figures involved corrupt payments or attempts to control political decisions.
The commission also examined a secretly recorded telephone conversation from 2021 in which Nassif boasted that he held up to 52 per cent of the power in the NSW government.
Asked about that claim, he told the hearing on Monday that he had been speaking “nonsense”.
Nassif remains in Lebanon and is subject to an international arrest warrant in connection with fraud charges. His participation in the ICAC proceedings has allowed the commission to question him remotely about the payments, offers and conversations under examination.
Operation Rosny is examining whether Nassif paid Liberal Party operatives to achieve political outcomes that would benefit his property developments, alongside allegations of possible electoral donation law breaches.
Nassif continues to deny that the payments were bribes or were made to obtain political favours.
