Perrottet’s brother and Liberal Party members raided by ICAC
The NSW Liberal Party is facing another corruption scandal, with several members, including the brother of former premier Dominic Perrottet, raided by ICAC.
The NSW Liberal Party is facing another corruption scandal after several members, including the brother of former premier Dominic Perrottet, were raided by ICAC in relation to their links to controversial Sydney property developer Jean Nassif.
Charles Perrottet and at least five Liberal Party members have been raided over the past month in relation to allegations that several councillors in Sydney’s northwest were replaced to engineer favourable development results for Mr Nassif’s company, Toplace.
ICAC officers seized laptops and mobile phones as part of the raid, hitting those involved with suppression notices.
Under parliamentary privilege last June, Liberal MP Ray Williams accused councillor Christian Ellis and other senior members of the party of accepting “significant funds” as part of the scheme to push through development approvals on several properties in Castle Hill.
Charles Perrottet was not named in the speech.
Then-premier Dominic Perrottet referred the allegations to the corruption watchdog, but ICAC declined to investigate the allegations, saying there was insufficient evidence.
A Labor-established inquiry into the allegations found last month that the committee had been stymied by key witnesses’ efforts to evade summons to give evidence, including Mr Nassif, Mr Ellis, his mother Virginia Ellis, and Jean-Claude Perrottet, another brother of the former premier.
All three were contacted for comment but did not reply by the time of publication. All have previously strongly denied the allegations, with Jean-Claude Perrottet previously accusing Labor of running a political smear campaign on the eve of the state election.
The former premier was contacted for comment.
The Sunday Telegraph reported the Independent Commission Against Corruption had co-opted the Victorian Police to enter the Melbourne residence of Charles Perrottet last week. He is no longer a member of the Liberal Party.
Despite being at the centre of the allegations, The Australian understands neither Mr Nassif’s residence nor the Toplace office have been raided by ICAC officers. The developer flew to rural Lebanon in early February, advising the parliamentary inquiry he would be unable to attend the hearings.
The ICAC sting comes several weeks after Mr Nassif’s 27-year-old daughter, Ashlyn Nassif, was indicted on separate allegations she dishonestly obtained a financial advantage by deception. She was released on bail after her family posted $2.6m bail.
As part of the investigation, police from State Crime Command’s organised crime squad searched four properties, including the Toplace office in Concord.
The ICAC raids comes as the state waits for the findings of the Operation Keppel investigation into former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire and former premier Gladys Berejiklian, who resigned in October 2021 after ICAC confirmed she was the target of its investigation in relation to her secret relationship with Mr Maguire.
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