Charles Perrottet says he repeatedly lied to developer Jean Nassif to help his mates

August 31, 2026 — 11:57amFollow the hearing liveOne-time Liberal Party powerbroker Charles Perrottet has told a corruption hearing that he often lied to a disgraced property developer – including about representations he was making about property developments – so his friends would be paid money owed to them.Perrottet returned on Monday to give evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption where he said that he leveraged his good relationship with developer Jean Nassif to help Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis pursue money owed to their company Beckington.Charles Perrottet has returned to give evidence to the ICAC.Sam MooyGreenwood and Ellis, along with Perrottet, are persons of interest in this inquiry, which is investigating whether Nassif, who has fled to Lebanon and is wanted on serious fraud charges, gave illegal donations to the Liberal Party. Nassif will appear from Beirut via video link on Friday.Perrottet told the commission on Monday that he was at the Longueville Hotel in January 2021 when Sharangan Maheswaran, a lawyer for Nassif, passed Greenwood or Ellis a cheque for Beckington.He said he did not ask his friends how much money was on the cheque and did not know the figure.They met at the pub because it was close to his home, Perrottet said, and he needed somewhere nearby as he was flying to Melbourne the next day. When asked if he had a memory of the cheque being handed over to Greenwood or Ellis, Perrottet said he believed that happened.Counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, then showed Perrottet pictures taken on Perrottet’s phone the morning after the pub meeting. There was a photo of the envelope, addressed to Beckington, with the figure of $148,000 written on the front.“If the money was handed over ... as you just said on oath, at the Longueville Hotel, then there would be no reason for you to be taking a photograph of it the next morning, would there?” Dwyer asked.“No, you are correct. I’m obviously mistaken,” Perrottet said.Charles Perrottet’s wife, Anita, also gave evidence to the ICAC last week.Louie DouvisPerrottet then gave evidence that perhaps Greenwood was not at the pub meeting after all, and that maybe Perrottet dropped off the cheque to Greenwood’s home.Earlier, Perrottet was shown a message he sent to Nassif asking if he could meet up to receive assistance from the property developer for a preselection. Nassif’s company Toplace has since collapsed and owes $2 billion to creditors.Perrottet said he was chasing up unpaid money for Beckington and mentioning preselections was a way to lead Nassif to believe his money was being used to support political work.“I think I was trying to describe, you know, how he could be supportive. Like I made it up,” Perrottet said.He said he provided political updates to encourage Nassif to pay his bills, Perrottet said, but told the commission the money was not actually used as political donations.“Mr Perrottet, you are tying yourself in knots to get around obvious messages about you picking up money from Mr Nassif, is that what’s happening?” Dwyer said.“I disagree,” Perrottet said.Perrottet said he would make some calls for Nassif regarding one of his projects, and told the developer that he would meet with a contact he had to raise concerns on Nassif’s behalf.That contact didn’t exist, Perrottet told the ICAC.“Ultimately, I made it up,” Perrottet said.He said that some of his texts to Nassif, including plans to help him speed up his development projects, included lies. Perrottet said he would include his own “political flavour” to messages to keep the developer on side.“There was two reasons that I was appeasing him … one reason was I’d engaged him in regards to seeking some evidence of allegations around activity within the Hills area that was concerning,” he said.Alexandra Smith is a senior writer and former state political editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners