As part of an inquiry into corruption in the NSW Liberals, Icac is investigating the allegation that Charles Perrottet, Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis received prohibited donations totalling $2m from Nassif or his company Toplace between 2020 and 2023 to help with branch stacking efforts and political outcomes sought by Nassif.<\/p>\n
The outcomes include damage to the career of the former NSW Liberal minister David Elliott, who had opposed Nassif\u2019s developments, and the removal of the then building commissioner, David Chandler, who had been scrutinising defects.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Charles Perrottet was asked about a message he sent after the Nobu dinner meeting to the Toplace executive Sharangan Maheswaran, who is also named in Icac\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Jean that the best way to get the building commissioner off his back is to take the fight to Elliott and dismantle his infrastructure,\u201d Charles Perrottet wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can get 189 and Garthowen payments, we can take Parra, Hills, Cumberland councils, and the seat of Castle Hill and completely isolate him. As a result, he [Elliott] will be on his knees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n The commission has heard that \u201c189\u201d and \u201cGarthowen\u201d referred to Toplace developments. The inquiry also heard that, following the message, a cheque of $150,000 from the company was deposited to Beckington, a lobbying company controlled by Ellis and Greenwood.<\/p>\n Two days later, Charles Perrottet sent a message to Nassif in which he thanked him \u201cfor all your support\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Baulkham Hills branch is now suspended \u2026 We\u2019ll keep you updated on the other council areas we are progressing to,\u201d he wrote. Elliott retired from politics before the March 2023 state election after his seat of Baulkham Hills was abolished and he could not find sufficient support from branches in the seat of Castle Hill.<\/p>\n Under questioning from the counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer SC, Charles Perrottet said \u201cI never asked him for payments for political outcomes\u201d. He said he did not know if he was aware at the time that a payment had been made to Beckington.<\/p>\n He previously told the inquiry on Monday he would lie to Nassif \u201cto keep him on side\u201d, adding a \u201cpolitical flavour\u201d to advice he was providing to chase up money for genuine consulting work by Beckington.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Dwyer asked: \u201cYou want the commission to believe that even though you promised Jean Nassif political outcomes in exchange for money, you were actually just fibbing to him at that time. Correct?\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Perrottet again rejected that he had asked for political outcomes in exchange for money, saying the two projects \u201cwere projects that Beckington had worked on, and they had asked me to follow up for payment\u201d, again claiming he had added a \u201cpolitical flavour\u201d.<\/p>\n At one point, Dwyer said she was \u201cgobsmacked, genuinely, by your obfuscation around this\u201d.<\/p>\n As Charles Perrottet\u2019s evidence concluded, Dwyer said that an expected appearance by Nassif on Friday had been \u201crescheduled to later in the inquiry\u201d after he had provided the commission with a medical certificate.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | When needed<\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Nassif left Australia for Lebanon in 2022 after an investigation found dozens of defects<\/a> in three separate residential developments constructed by Toplace and following the announcement of a parliamentary inquiry which preceded Icac\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788295934_229_2998.jpg\")
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