Jean Nassif ‘borrowed $7m from Toplace’ empire

The developer transferred significant sums to Lebanon, where he now resides, ahead of the collapse of his building empire.

Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif. Picture: Liam Mendes

Fugitive developer Jean Nassif may have promised to fix up crumbling Toplace apartment buildings if police drop a warrant for his arrest but administrators have uncovered further problems in his collapsed empire.

The construction boss, who was recently spotted in a Lebanese casino, is facing further claims from administrators DvT ahead of a creditors meeting planned for Tuesday.

DvT’s updated report revealed funds are missing from the Toplace empire after the administrator reviewed complex inter-company loans, with more than 17,000 transactions checked over in the three and a half years to July 2023.

DvT said that examinations of Mr Nassif’s loan account, company bank statements and related-party bank statements showed he had “treated company bank accounts as his exclusive personal financial resources”.

It said company funds were employed to cover various personal expenses, including the deposit for a luxury mansion in the Sydney suburb of Chiswick and associated development costs and mortgage payments.

Their report said Mr Nassif’s use of company bank accounts for personal purposes “raises serious issues related to his legal duties”. “It can suggest a lack of compliance with fiduciary duties and corporate governance standards,” DvT said.

The investigation revealed that Mr Nassif had borrowed $7,147,971 from the company – much more than the $3,255,583 he acknowledged. “Our comprehensive review not only brings to light specific instances of cash misuse but also underscores systemic issues within the Toplace Group, such as a lack of appropriate policies and controls, potential misuse of funds or fraud, and violation of director duties,” DvT said.

But it warned that any inter-company loans or related-party loans may be difficult to recover and said it may not be worth chasing them up. “We do not see a significant benefit for unsecured creditors in delving further into this pattern, as the funds have already been utilised and may prove challenging to recover,” the report said.

DvT wants to confine claims against Mr Nassif to recoverable actions with a focus on available assets in Australia, which are also subject to current legal proceedings.The administrators have called for the group to be placed in a holding deed of company administration, arguing this would provide a better outcome than a liquidation.

Creditors will vote on the plan at a meeting in the Sydney suburb of Burwood.

The report comes after DvT’s initial findings in February that Mr Nassif transferred millions of dollars out of Toplace to his brother Bakhos and also sent funds to Lebanon to back his own land purchases in Beirut.

DvT warned that unsecured creditors were owed about $400m and few assets were left to pay them back. It said the developer had traded insolvent since 2020 and had transferred money offshore via the Bank of Beirut ahead of Toplace’s failure.

The latest report also detailed millions of claims made by unhappy apartment strata bodies left dealing with defects in Toplace buildings across Sydney. They include complexes in Canterbury, Parramatta, Rosebery, Castle Hill, Granville, Mascot and Baulkham Hills.

Total claims are around $145.63m with a series of legal actions underway and more problems likely to be uncovered.

Originally published as Jean Nassif ‘borrowed $7m from Toplace’ empire