Jean Nassif: ICAC, NSW Crime Commission orders Toplace administrators to hand over company records
$1.882 billion: That is the figure creditors claim fugitive property developer Jean Nassif’s Toplace owes them – as it can finally be confirmed the NSW ICAC and NSW Crime Commission are investigating the wanted man.
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$1.882 billion: That is the figure a list of more than 600 creditors claim fugitive property developer Jean Nassif owes them – as it can finally be confirmed that the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption and all-powerful NSW Crime Commission are investigating the wanted man and his business dealings.
The eye-watering sum of outstanding cash to creditors across the country, which has been revealed as part of the latest administration return by dVT liquidators, comes amid revelations that “hundreds of thousands of documents” and more than eight terabytes of data had been handed over as part of independent investigations launched by the NSW Crime Commission, NSW Police and the state’s corruption watchdog.
“We have received a number of formal statutory demands for documents by various government bodies, including the Independent Commission Against Corruption”,” the administrators said in its reporter to creditors.
“These requests compel the Administrators’ to provide company records on short notice, or risk breaching statutory provisions of the applicable Acts.
“We anticipate further demands for records will be issued during the course of the administration.”
In reports to creditors, administrators Suelen McCallum and Anthony Resnick revealed they had “met with representatives of NSW Police and the NSW Crime Commission to discuss investigations by all parties”.
Ms McCallum and Mr Resnick, told the Sunday Telegraph administrators “co-operated with a range of enforcement agencies investigating the collapse of Toplace”.
The administrators confirmed NSW Police investigations into “alleged fraudulent documents” relating to several Toplace construction projects had “assisted in informing our investigations into inter-company transactions and cash movements”.
The June report also revealed dVT was compelled to hand over Toplace records to the NSW ICAC, Fair Trading, and the Australian Taxation Office as part of a string of investigations confirmed in reports to creditors.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that the wanted developer – still hiding out in luxury accommodation in Lebanon amid an outstanding warrant for his arrest – owes $8.286 million in personal loans to the crumbling development firm.
The growing bill is accruing interest of $1826 a day, after Nassif entered a loan agreement with his own company at an interest rate of 10 per cent a year, “with interest to be capitalised until repayment”.
Meanwhile, it can also be confirmed that despite the threat of ongoing air strikes in Lebanon, Nassif has not applied for support or repatriation from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs.
Internal investigations into Toplace business dealings revealed a series of “undocumented” deals, which administrators allege was an attempt to “disregard the corporate veil” with vendors, purchasers and suppliers.
One incident uncovered by investigators included a completely undocumented deal where a vendor was promised a series of residential units in a soon-to-be-developed apartment complex as part of a verbal agreement with Jean Nassif, “as part of the acquisition cost of the properties”.
“After much searching we were not able to locate any documents but were able to ascertain from the staff that they were aware of this deal but were not aware of the details,” investigators revealed. “To make matters worse, the vendor died and his accountant was trying to deal with his estate.
“This purported deal represented a significant amount of money for the estate.
“There were also several deals done with purchasers of units with the promise of a substantial discounts on settlement or, in the case of suppliers, settlement by way of offset to amounts owed to them for the supply of goods and, or services.”
A forensic review of more than 14,000 financial transactions revealed Nassif made a series of “advances” from Toplace to his personal accounts – to the tune of $3.25 million – with his Chiswick family home used a “security for repayment of the loan monies”.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Nassif’s Chiswick home was repossessed last month to repay outstanding debts, after Nassif’s estranged wife was “relocated”.
A source close to the investigation confirmed that, following the repossession and pending sale of the home, “it is not believed there will be enough cash left from the sale of the home for dVT to be able to pay creditors”.
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“The director’s use of company bank accounts for personal purposes raises serious issues related to his legal duties,” administrators said in the 500-page report. “It became evident during our examination of the director’s loan account, Company bank statements, and related party bank statements that the director treated company bank accounts as his exclusive personal financial resources.
“Company funds were employed to cover various personal expenses, including the deposit for the director’s current residence in Chiswick, development costs for the Chiswick Property and to make mortgage payments associated with the property.”
The same forensic review of transactions also uncovered Nassif handed $340,000 in company cash over to his now-estranged wife Nisserine Mattar, and made successful applications for almost $200,000 in jobkeeper payments from the federal government.
Ms Mattar is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The latest report to creditors also confirmed a trail gone cold in the hunt for an estimated $325,000 from the sale of the infamous yellow Lamborghini 636, purchased with Toplace funds, which was gifted to Mr Nassif’s wife in 2019.
In February, it was revealed the fallen property developer had sent $7 million overseas for Lebanese land deals and a further $10 million was sent to Nassif’s brother, Bakhos Khazen Nassif.
At the same time, creditors were told more than $1.2 million had been directed to a Nigerian bank account for a “warehouse project”.
In a statement to The Sunday Telegraph this week, Ms McCallum and Mr Resnick said there had been a “substantial increase” on the $300 million in funds released since February, “in the last six months as sales progress”.
“There has been a significant amount of progress made in the last 15 months in what is a forensic, detailed and complex investigation and administration process,” the administrators said. Our key focus from day one though has been to recoup every single dollar we can for the 600 creditors owed close to $1.88 billion.
“There is still work to do and transactions to complete before we finalise any amount and we are updating creditors on our progress on a regular basis.”
The representatives said dVT spent “thousands of hours working through complex often incomplete and mountainous documentation”.
“But at the heart of this administration there is a cross-section of the Sydney and wider community who continue to manage the very real financial and personal impact of this collapse”.
Do you know more? Email: jake.mccallum@news.com.au
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Originally published as Jean Nassif: ICAC, NSW Crime Commission orders Toplace administrators to hand over company records
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