The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) has heard that Charles Perrottet, the younger brother of former premier Dominic Perrottet, insisted he never asked fugitive property developer Jean Nassif for money for political outcomes, including at a meeting at Nobu restaurant in Crown Casino. The inquiry also heard that Nassif had withdrawn from a scheduled videolink appearance from Lebanon later this week, after Perrottet faced questions about the dinner meeting in Melbourne in May 2021.
Allegations of prohibited donations and political outcomes
Icac is investigating allegations that Charles Perrottet, Jeremy Greenwood, and Christian Ellis received prohibited donations totalling $2 million from Nassif or his company Toplace between 2020 and 2023. The alleged donations were purportedly made to assist with branch stacking efforts and to secure political outcomes sought by Nassif. These outcomes reportedly included damaging the career of former NSW Liberal minister David Elliott, who had opposed Nassif's developments, and the removal of then-building commissioner David Chandler, who had been scrutinising defects in Toplace projects.
On Monday, Perrottet was questioned about a message he sent following the Nobu dinner to Toplace executive Sharangan Maheswaran, who is also named in Icac's allegations. In the message, Perrottet wrote: “I told Jean that the best way to get the building commissioner off his back is to take the fight to Elliott and dismantle his infrastructure. If we can get 189 and Garthowen payments, we can take Parra, Hills, Cumberland councils, and the seat of Castle Hill and completely isolate him. As a result, he [Elliott] will be on his knees.”
Payments to Beckington and subsequent messages
The commission heard that “189” and “Garthowen” referred to Toplace developments. Following the message, a cheque of $150,000 from the company was deposited to Beckington, a lobbying company controlled by Ellis and Greenwood. Two days later, Perrottet sent a message to Nassif thanking him “for all your support”, adding: “The Baulkham Hills branch is now suspended … We’ll keep you updated on the other council areas we are progressing to.” Elliott retired from politics before the March 2023 state election after his seat of Baulkham Hills was abolished and he could not find sufficient support from branches in the seat of Castle Hill.
Under questioning from counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer SC, Perrottet said: “I never asked him for payments for political outcomes.” He said he did not know if he was aware at the time that a payment had been made to Beckington. He previously told the inquiry on Monday he would lie to Nassif “to keep him on side”, adding a “political flavour” to advice he was providing to chase up money for genuine consulting work by Beckington.
Dwyer's 'gobsmacked' reaction and Nassif's absence
On Tuesday, Dwyer asked: “You want the commission to believe that even though you promised Jean Nassif political outcomes in exchange for money, you were actually just fibbing to him at that time. Correct?” Perrottet again rejected that he had asked for political outcomes in exchange for money, saying the two projects “were projects that Beckington had worked on, and they had asked me to follow up for payment”, again claiming he had added a “political flavour”. At one point, Dwyer said she was “gobsmacked, genuinely, by your obfuscation around this”.
As Perrottet's evidence concluded, Dwyer said that an expected appearance by Nassif on Friday had been “rescheduled to later in the inquiry” after he had provided the commission with a medical certificate. Nassif left Australia for Lebanon in 2022 after an investigation found dozens of defects in three separate residential developments constructed by Toplace and following the announcement of a parliamentary inquiry which preceded Icac's investigation. In June 2023, NSW police issued an arrest warrant for Nassif in relation to allegations of “large-scale fraud” at Toplace, which collapsed earlier that year, but he has never been charged. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Perrottet questioned over wife's evidence
On Monday, Perrottet told the inquiry he agreed that his wife, Anita Perrottet, would receive money from Beckington and JPG, which was controlled by Greenwood, for advice he provided to Nassif on his developments. Anita Perrottet told the commission that a $150,000 invoice for a year's work sent to Beckington in July 2021 was all for verbal “strategic and marketing advice” that she had provided to Greenwood on client Greyhound Racing NSW.
On Tuesday, Dwyer asked Perrottet: “Did your wife then lie to the commission last week about the amount that was in fact covering your advice?” Perrottet responded: “No, as I said to you, I'm not sure how much I disclosed to Anita.” He rejected Dwyer's suggestion he wanted to “patronise Anita so that she thought she was genuinely charging for this work when in fact it was your advice”. Perrottet said: “No, not at all. She was doing a lot of good work.”
Asked about the invoice, which included a $30,000 finder's fee, Perrottet said: “$150,000 for a year's worth of work, I don't think, is a significant amount of money.” Anita Perrottet told Icac last week she did 15 to 20 hours of work each week to provide verbal advice. Perrottet is expected to give further evidence to the commission later this week, as is Jeremy Greenwood. Dominic Perrottet is not named in Icac's allegations and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. The inquiry continues.
