Daughter of fugitive Jean Nassif seen partying into the early hours amid legal battle involving father
Lawyer Ashlyn Nassif, 30, was seen partying in Sydney over the Australia Day long weekend amid a court case to get recordings of phone calls with her developer Jean Nassif struck out of court.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Sydney property heiress Ashlyn Nassif partied without an apparent care in the world over the Australia Day weekend, as she is accused of playing a role in an alleged massive bank fraud.
The daughter of her fugitive property developer Jean Nassif danced Saturday night away at a Sydney open-air event in a skimpy leopard print dress with friends.
Looking content and carefree, she danced, hands up in the air, for hours with friends, to a DJ set, taking snaps of the packed gathering on her mobile phone.
An onlooker said: “She was having a great time, she was out late, it must have finished around 1am and she was loving life that night. We left before the end, it finished late but she was there until the end.”
Glamorous lawyer Ashlyn is currently immersed in a legal battle to get recordings of phone calls with her developer father struck out of court.
Her legal team claims the calls made during an investigation into Jean Nassif should be categorised as legal professional privilege and not be admitted as evidence in court.
Hundreds of Mr Nassif’s calls were intercepted by NSW police during a probe in 2021 into suspected money laundering at Sydney’s The Star casino.
Ms Nassif, 30, was an executive at her father’s Toplace development firm, which has been prevented from carrying out construction projects by NSW Fair Trading after a catalogue of defects were unearthed at some of his major apartment developments.
Police allege the trained solicitor falsified documents to meet a $10.5m pre-sale condition for three towers of the Skyview apartments complex in Castle Hill in northwestern Sydney, between September 15 and December 8, 2021.
The glamorous heiress is alleged to have submitted fake contracts to Westpac over three months in 2021 to secure a $150m loan to fund around 900 apartments.
The $900m apartment tower complex was built by her fugitive father Jean Nassif’s development company Toplace, which collapsed around 202o owing more than $200 million, making it one of the biggest property failures in Australian history.
Weeks later, Mr Nassif went to ground and was later discovered hiding in the hills of his native Lebanon to where The Daily Telegraph traced him.
From his hide-out in Haref Ardeh, 94 kilometres north east of Beirut, he claimed in August 2023 he would return and face the consequences of his company collapsing.
“I haven’t died yet, I will be back to defend myself and the truth will always prevail,” he said.
“A search warrant to arrest me, for what? I will go back to Sydney when police lift the order of criminal arrest then I’ll come …”
He has still not returned to Australia despite NSW Police issuing a warrant for his arrest.
Magistrate Christopher Halburd in October revealed police had intercepted conversations between Ms Nassif and her father as part of a separate investigation and would allow a NSW Police detective senior constable to be questioned about the phone calls before her case proceeded.
Ms Nassif’s legal team asked whether some of the calls were covered by professional privilege and said they “took issue” with how they were obtained by NSW Police.
The magistrate said the Crown case would also rely on documents produced by a Westpac employee who was “effectively a liaison with Toplace” and the bank.
Mr Halburd said: “It is submitted their evidence is of the highest order and his credibility, so far as his dealings with Mr Nassif and the accused, will be of critical importance to the trial.”
Ms Nassif’s lawyers applied in August for the employee and two police officers in the investigation to give evidence during the committal process delaying the case.
The property heiress was first charged in February 2023 with one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one count of publishing false or misleading material.
She has not entered any pleas but it is suggested she will fight the charges.
Ms Nassif has been contacted for comment.
More Coverage
Originally published as Daughter of fugitive Jean Nassif seen partying into the early hours amid legal battle involving father
High salaries of council fat cats who called for 40pc rate hike
Northern Beaches Council fat cats earn more than almost any other Sydney council despite plans to lump residents with a 40 per cent rate hike. See how their salaries compare with other councils.
Read more
‘Shameful’: The eight councillors who voted for 40pc rate hike
Seven “independents” from the same political party and one member of the Greens voted in favour of lifting Northern Beaches council rates by 39.6 per cent. Residents have called for them to resign.
Read more