Jean Nassif flaunts lavish Lebanese lifestyle as Sydney Toplace empire collapses

NSW authorities have been on the hunt for wanted Sydney developer Jean Nassif for months. A special investigation has uncovered his life of luxury, and the truth behind his recent hospital stints.

As the morning sun lights up the rural villages in the shadows of the North Lebanese Jabal al Makmel mountain range, a bearded man dressed in black peers briefly out the window of the family home.

Australia’s bankrupt fugitive Jean Nassif salutes three times the blinding sky above, a daily ritual he says he has come to perform since fleeing Sydney to return to the rural district of Zgharta where he grew up.

A week-long investigation has found that Nassif, 55, lives an open life, wandering dusty streets and chatting to locals in the tiny hamlet of Haref Ardeh, 94 kilometres north east of Beirut.

And when he can no longer stand the slow-paced village life, the international runaway is chauffeur-driven in a blacked out Mercedes-Benz to lavish coastal cocktail bars and Beirut’s swanky clubs, soaking up the bustling night-life before he returns to where his “people” have been watching for “ajanib” (foreigners) for eight months since he fled to Lebanon.

The clue to his whereabouts? A gloating Facebook video post of the Dea Del Mare beach bar resort in the ancient coastal city of Byblos where cashed up locals and foreigners, many of them Lebanese-Australians, blow off steam.

Jean Nassif spends his nights at swanky local clubs, including the Dea Del Mare beach bar resort in Byblos.

Jean Nassif is no stranger to the party boy lifestyle.

Nassif spends his evenings blowing off steam at lavish coastal cocktail bars.

At nightfall, Nassif has been seen splashing cash on bottles of vodka and whisky at the resort’s infinity pool bar where staff excitedly whisper “the man with money is back”.

“He’s in his village, he comes down from time to time and buys bottles of vodka or whisky and is immediately surrounded by women,” said one holidaying Sydneysider who has seen him.

“The guy walks around like he owns the place, he sends vodka and whiskey shots at $9US a pop to women at the bar - it’s nothing for him - it’s easy in Lebanon when you have money.”

Nassif has been spotted splashing cash on bottles of vodka and whisky at local resorts.

The bankrupt Sydney property developer says he has been “admitted somewhere” for depression two hours outside Beirut in the mountains.

In a telephone interview, he said: “I am bedridden, I am so tired, you will not find me, I cannot leave this place.

“… Im not allowed out, I’m not in a fit state to meet anyone, I’m waiting to be discharged, people are coming for me,” he said.

“I don’t go to church anymore, my faith is big, I salute God every morning three times from my house.

“I am the son of God, I’m close to Jesus and God more than (to) the church. I have wisdom like no other,” he said.

Photos of Jean Nassif in hospital in Lebanon recently emerged. Picture: Exclusive, The Sunday Telegraph

The two main hospitals in Zgharta have never had Nassif listed as a patient.

A search confirmed neither the Centre Hospitalier Du Nord, or Saydet Zgharta Hospital, the two main hospitals in Zgharta, have him listed for treatment.

Nassif, wanted by NSW detectives pressing to arrest him on a warrant for financial crimes dating back to 2021, has been careful not to upload pictures of himself online, even though there is no extradition treaty in Lebanon with Australia.

The waiters in Haref Ardeh at the Rachiine River Restaurant know Nassif is back.

“For years he has come here with different women, aged between 25 and 40, they’re beautiful, some are Lebanese, others speak with foreign accents, and he comes in a different car each time,” said one local worker who asked not to be named.

“Once I took a picture of him on my phone, he’s a hero here, he carries a lot of cash in his pockets, but he got angry and screamed.

Waiters say they have seen Nassif at a number of restaurants in Haref Ardeh.

Nassif is known to frequent the Dea Del Mare resort.

“He said ‘whenever I come here, never ever take any picture - understood?’

“He doesn’t want people to know who he is with. He gives hefty tips, - US$10, sometimes, US$20, or US$40 – we don’t see that kind of money here.

“He smokes shisha if the people he is with smoke, sometimes he comes in expensive suits and shiny shoes.

“Drinking is his favourite thing, if he’s had too much, he will dance Lebanese Dubke (Arab folk dance).”

Jean Nassif with wife Nissy in Sydney before he left Australia for Lebanon. Picture: Instagram

Jean Nassif’s social media took a video at the Lebanon resort.

It’s the same story at the nearby Rachiine Bridge restaurant (Jisr Rachiin).

“He is the man who works in construction with lots of money, I don’t know him so well but when he’s in the village, he spends a lot of money,” said owner Eddy Fenenos, 33.

“He said the best thing he did was go to Australia where he made his fortune.”