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September 7, 2026 \u2014 3:57pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif coerced, controlled and ultimately abandoned his daughter to \u201cfend for herself\u201d, a lawyer for the disgraced young woman has told her sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n The public rift in the Nassif family, and Ashlyn\u2019s sentence on Monday to a six-month community corrections order, comes as the NSW corruption watchdog probes Jean<\/a> over allegations he made illegal donations to a Liberal faction to smooth the cracks in his crumbling empire.<\/p>\n Ashlyn Nassif, 31, was arrested in March 2023 as Jean\u2019s property company Toplace began to fall apart.<\/p>\n That same month, Toplace towers in Canterbury and Castle Hill were found to be riddled with serious defects, owners were left with multi-million dollar repair bills and the NSW Building Commission was shutting the business down.<\/p>\n Jean fled to Lebanon in late 2022 and never returned, even after his daughter was charged. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n The court heard Ashlyn was a lawyer working for Toplace and had been captured in audio recordings with her father, agreeing to move apartment contracts around to secure a $150 million loan from Westpac.<\/p>\n Jean had instructed Ashlyn to move owners\u2019 contracts from one building to another to make it appear they had sold $10 million worth of planned units with 10 per cent deposits collected, the court was told.<\/p>\n \u201cHi Daddy, sorry, I managed to get some to move over to Building C \u2026 I have about 11 now,\u201d Ashlyn said in November 2021, in the audio recordings played to the court.<\/p>\n \u201cI need time to get deposits sorted with (another firm) but I will mark it as paid on schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n Jean told her to send the paperwork through to Westpac, asking if it was $10 million.<\/p>\n \u201cYes it\u2019s around $10m, and it\u2019s with all the sales advices as well\u2026 So it doesn\u2019t look bad, it\u2019s fine. It\u2019s just if he asks for receipts, I\u2019ll need some time,\u201d Ashlyn replied.<\/p>\n She instructed another solicitor to send the letter to Westpac saying they had cleared the hurdle for Westpac to release the money.<\/p>\n Ashlyn pleaded guilty to providing false and misleading information, but her lawyer told the court she would never have sent the letter it if it wasn\u2019t for her father.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s appropriate that yesterday was Father\u2019s day,\u201d her lawyer Murugan Thangaraj SC told Burwood Local Court on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cThis young lady is carrying all of this, he should be part of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she wasn\u2019t working for him, and if he wasn\u2019t her father, she never would have committed those offences.<\/p>\n \u201cBut for the situation with her father, she never would have done anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Thangaraj told the court Jean was a bad father who had tried to control Ashlyn, told her to lose weight \u201cso he could show her off\u201d.<\/p>\n He pressured her to become a lawyer and do his bidding, he said, and then left the country and Ashlyn to fend for herself.<\/p>\n \u201cHow any person could leave their child to face charges which are for his company\u2019s benefit? How he could leave her to fend for herself, sell her property for legal fees \u2026 force her to move back in with mother and sibling?\u201d Thangaraj questioned during the hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s hardly the wealthy heiress of which she is portrayed. Maybe, many business collapses ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashlyn lost her practicing certificate, her engagement, her career, and has been endlessly in the media for three-and-a-half years since she was charged, her lawyer said.<\/p>\n The court heard some of her private information had even been leaked to an organised crime network in the fallout from her father\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n Judge Christopher Halburd said it appeared Jean would never face justice, and agreed he had controlled his daughter.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was under the sway of her tyrannical father, we are dealing with a young solicitor who made a stupid choice which ruined her life,\u201d Halburd said.<\/p>\n Related Article He said some media had made remarks about Ashlyn\u2019s appearance, including her clothing, which mirrored how her father treated her.<\/p>\n Ashlyn sobbed loudly in court.<\/p>\n Ashlyn told the court Jean had called her while she was at dinner with her mother, screaming at her to send the document. She was shaking, she told the court in a letter, and went back to the office to send it off.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are talking about isn\u2019t an ongoing scheme, it was a single document that was signed and sent off, she didn\u2019t sign the document,\u201d Halburd said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe sent it off under pressure from her father.\u201d<\/p>\n Editor’s pick Ashlyn was an executive in the company, but had not done it for her own gain or greed, Halburd said. Instead, she had succumbed to her abusive, coercing and controlling father\u2019s pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defendant is convicted and placed on a community corrections order for six months, no point in having supervision,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n The Independent Commission Against Corruption last week heard recordings of Jean calling Dominic Perrottet \u201cmy boy\u201d in October 2021, around the time he was instructing Ashlyn, and just before Perrottet became NSW premier.<\/p>\n According to counsel assisting ICAC, Jean had allegedly given $2 million to a conservative Liberal Party faction, comprised of Christian Ellis, Jeremy Greenwood and Perrottet\u2019s brother Charles, in violation of the prohibition on developer donations.<\/p>\n The developer wanted NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, who was trying to shut Toplace down, to be removed, ICAC has been told.<\/p>\n Jean Nassif had pledged to give evidence at the ICAC via videolink, but then called in sick instead.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Ashlyn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/e034b24c96b6154b88b8eb450ac308f32c723eee.jpeg\")
Ashlyn Nassif (left) after pleading guilty at\u00a0Burwood Local Court in June. Her father Jean left her to \u201cfend for herself\u201d after she was charged for doing his bidding, her sentence hearing was told.AAPIMAGE<\/p>\n![\"Jean](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788773836_880_fe3b56e41030572eda85876a7876cf3baf3661a9.jpeg\")
Jean Nassif fled to Lebanon in late 2022 and never returned, even after his daughter was charged.Instagram<\/p>\n![\"Jean](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c1cd94cfa0d56152eaa50c52cb9cc18bf287a648.jpeg\")
Jean Nassif is wanted over an outstanding warrant in relation to alleged fraud-related offences.Police Media<\/p>\n![\"Jean](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788773837_222_fe3b56e41030572eda85876a7876cf3baf3661a9.jpeg\")
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Ashlyn Nassif leaves Surry Hills Police Station after her arrest in 2023.Brook Mitchell<\/p>\n![\"Jeremy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/e03dd5025da365cb25796d26459cbc47c9b04958.jpeg\")
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