Property mogul’s empire collapses amid fraud claims

A Sydney-based building group founded by developer Jean Nassif has collapsed amid fraud allegations now being probed by NSW police.

The building group founded by embattled developer Jean Nassif has collapsed amid fraud allegations now being probed by NSW police.

Antony Resnick and Suelen McCallum of DVT Group were last week appointed voluntary administrators of Sydney-based Toplace Pty Ltd, potentially leaving thousands of buyers who pre-purchased apartments in limbo.

Toplace forms part of one of Australia’s largest privately owned building, construction and property development companies. Founded in 1992, Toplace has built approximately 30,000 residential homes, shopping centres and commercial suites all located in Sydney.

According to its website, the company has “a multi-billion dollar development pipeline and a team of thousands of property and construction trades, suppliers and consultants.”

News Corp reported last week that Lebanese-born Mr Nassif is believed to be living overseas as police ramp up efforts to track down the mogul amid fraud allegations.

Detectives from the NSW Police organised crime squad earlier this month were granted an arrest warrant for Mr Nassif in relation to the charges. Police believe the 55-year-old, who is the founder of Toplace, has not been in the country for months. Strike Force Calool was established in April 2021 to investigate alleged financial crimes.

Earlier this year, Mr Nassif was called to front a NSW parliamentary inquiry into allegations of impropriety at Hills Shire Council, but declined to attend as he said he would be in a remote part of Lebanon conducting business and recuperating from a medical procedure.

High profile property developer Jean Nassif

Earlier this month, Toplace had its building licences suspended for the second time by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal preventing Mr Nassif or companies he manages completing works on existing or underdevelopment contracts across the state.

The NCAT revoked the stay orders made in January on both Mr Nassif and Toplace, taken out to lift their suspensions to allow them to remedy building defects and honour existing contracts, pending appeal.

Lawyers for Fair Trading NSW argued for the revocation on the basis of the warrant out for Mr Nassif’s arrest, related to allegations of “dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage in the amount of a $150 million loan” relating to contracts of the sale of land at one of its projects.

Nassif’s daughter Ashlyn remains before the NSW courts over allegations she used fraudulent contracts to get the $150m Westpac loan on the Skyview development, charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and publishing false or misleading material. There is no suggestion he is involved in his daughter’s alleged offences.

Nassif and Toplace were hit in December with a 10-year building licence suspension and a permanent revocation after an investigation into their properties allegedly uncovered 40 building defects across Toplace residential sites in Castle Hill, and Canterbury.

Defects identified in the firm’s 276-apartment building in Charles St, Canterbury, included inadequate drainage resulting in uncontrolled water entering the carpark, balustrades not adequately secured and fire sprinklers obstructed by pipes. It also identified several roof slabs that had not been sufficiently reinforced to support current and future anticipated loads.

One resident last month reported “cracking sounds” in another Sydney apartment complex constructed by Toplace Group triggering an urgent building inspection this week.

Ashlyn Nassif

A team of NSW Fair Trading officers and a government “emergency” engineer attended the Vicinity Apartments in Canterbury to conduct an immediate ­investigation.

The building is the subject of two separate building work rectification orders for serious defects identified last year and others in March this year.

Born in Lebanon in 1968, Mr Nassif had early aspirations of becoming a property developer and commenced a civil engineering degree in his home country. Due to the ongoing Lebanese civil war, he migrated to Australia in 1988 where he commenced work in the construction industry establishing a formwork, concreting and steel fixing company.

He obtained his builder licence in 1992 and created what would later become known as the Toplace Group, commencing his first residential property development project in Parramatta in Sydney’s western suburbs. Mr Nassif is also the founding director of the Wiping Tears Charity Foundation which provides financial support to families in need.

— Additional reporting by Alexi Demetriadi, Linda Silmalis and Nathan Schmidt