Sydney businessman Nahi Gazal charged with 95 fraud offences after $44m ATO debt

Businessman Nahi Gazal has been charged with 95 offences after allegedly making false claims to gain a financial advantage from the ATO.

A businessman from one of the city’s wealthiest families has been hit with almost 100 criminal charges after allegedly ripping off the tax office.

Developer Nahi Gazal, 60, has been locked in a lengthy battle over a $44 million tax bill – but his legal situation has intensified after a surprise visit from police in July.

Last year, the Australian Taxation Office put a flight restriction on Gazal, after telling the NSW Supreme Court they feared that if he left the country he may never return to pay off his hefty tax bill.

Nahi Gazal. Photo: Facebook / Supplied

Gazal, the uncle of Real Housewives of Sydney star Nicole O’Neil and millionaire property developer Nabil Gazal Jnr, has been unlucky in business over the years, but never more so than in recent times when he was hit with almost 100 fraud offences.

At 9.30am on June 9, police from Surry Hills arrived at Gazal’s multimillion-dollar apartment in The Rocks, charging him with 95 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the charges relate to Gazal’s business activity over the space of more than three years in relation to several trust accounts. In documents seen by the Sunday Telegraph, it’s alleged Gazal made false claims in Business Activity Statements for six different trust accounts.

The trust accounts were named after his company NNG Properties, another in the name of his son Nathan, and several development projects in Hurstville, Rose Bay, Alexandria and Parramatta. There is no suggestion of any involvement of or wrongdoing by Nathan.

Real Housewives Of Sydney’s Nicole O’Neil is the niece of Nahi Gazal. She has done nothing wrong and is not accused of anything.

It’s alleged Gazal dodgied up dozens of monthly statements related to the trusts making false claims about the business earnings, in order to “dishonestly obtain a financial advantage from the ATO”.

While it’s the first time he has been charged with criminal offences related to the ATO, the 60-year-old’s battle with the federal agency has been long-running.

While Gazal’s tax bill initially stood at more than $44 million, a settlement deal with the ATO allowed him to pay just $18 million, provided it was paid in full by March 1, 2024.

The Supreme Court recently heard that Gazal had whittled roughly $6 million in bank accounts that were meant to be frozen down to just $11,000.

Gazal has not entered pleas to the 95 charges and will appear at court in November.

Originally published as Sydney businessman Nahi Gazal charged with 95 fraud offences after $44m ATO debt