A warrant has been issued for the arrest of controversial Sydney property developer Jean Nassif as police probe allegations of serious financial wrongdoing at his family business.
Detectives from the Organised Crime Squad were on Friday granted a warrant to arrest the 55-year-old after a two-year fraud investigation.
NSW Police have appealed for public help to track down Mr Nassif, who they believe is overseas but have been unable to locate.
Squad commander Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said all large-scale fraud investigations were serious and he urged Mr Nassif to come forward.
The developer is the father of Sydney lawyer Ashlyn Nassif, who has been accused of securing a $150 million loan from Westpac with a falsified property pre-sale contract in 2021.
She has been charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage.
The 28-year-old allegedly submitted misleading contracts to meet a pre-sales condition for the Skyview Apartments at Castle Hill, in Sydney’s northwest, to trigger the bank loan to enable construction of the development.
Her father's firm, Toplace, was the developer behind the project.
Ashlyn Nassif handed herself in earlier this year after police simultaneously raided four properties, including her father’s multimillion-dollar Chiswick mansion and his Concord-based development firm.
Police would not confirm if the allegations against Mr Nassif were related to his daughter's case.
Earlier this year, Mr Nassif was called to appear before a NSW parliamentary inquiry into allegations of impropriety at Hills Shire Council, but declined to give evidence via a video link from Lebanon for legal reasons.
The inquiry followed allegations previously aired in parliament that senior Liberal figures were paid to install Hills Shire councillors who would support Toplace applications.
Mr Nassif denied paying anyone to undertake any actions relating to pre-selections, adding he had not met with any of the current councillors and he was unaware of their views on his developments.
In late 2022, Toplace had its building licence cancelled and Mr Nassif was barred from running a building company for 10 years after a series of major defects were uncovered at developments in Castle Hill and Canterbury.
Those measures were later put on hold on condition Mr Nassif and Toplace did not enter into any new contracts for residential building work without the consent of NSW authorities.
