Charles Perrottet denies hiding payments as ICAC probes ties to fugitive developer Jean Nassif
A former Liberal Party powerbroker, returned to New South Wales’ corruption watchdog on Monday and denied he had colluded with his wife to
Charles Perrottet, a former Liberal Party powerbroker, returned to New South Wales’ corruption watchdog on Monday and denied he had colluded with his wife to conceal payments linked to fugitive property developer Jean Nassif. The Independent Commission Against Corruption is examining whether he tailored his evidence after earlier telling investigators under oath that he had not helped political allies in their dealings with Nassif.
The hearing has sharpened a question that sits at the center of the inquiry: whether Perrottet used his relationship with Nassif to help others chase money owed to their company, Beckington, while his wife, Anita, was paid through her business Macquarie Consulting.
Payments, advice and Beckington
Perrottet told the inquiry he leveraged his good relationship with Nassif to assist Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis in pursuing money owed to Beckington. He also said his wife received ongoing payments through Macquarie Consulting as remuneration for advice he provided to Greenwood.
That advice, he said, included telling Greenwood to join the Property Council and suggesting ways to fast-track developments. The evidence places Perrottet at the intersection of business dealings, political access and consulting payments. Small details. Large implications.
Counsel assisting ICAC, Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, pressed him with evidence he had given during a private hearing in 2025. At that earlier appearance, he had been asked whether he had assisted Beckington in relation to work it did for Nassif’s construction company Toplace.
“I didn’t assist them, I don’t believe I ever assisted them with the work, but I was certainly provi…,” Perrottet had said, according to the material put to Monday’s hearing. The exchange was used to challenge his current account and to test whether his evidence has shifted over time.
Credibility under the microscope
The inquiry has now turned on credibility as much as conduct. Perrottet has been accused of adjusting his account to fit the inquiry’s line of questioning and of “tying himself in knots” after previously denying that he helped his political allies with their dealings with Nassif.
For ICAC, the issue is not only whether payments moved through Anita Perrottet’s consulting business, but whether those payments reflected legitimate work or masked the flow of assistance tied to Nassif-related business matters. That distinction will matter as the watchdog weighs the extent of any relationship between political contacts, property interests and compensation.
Perrottet’s return on Monday keeps the focus on a case that has already linked a well-connected political figure, a fugitive developer and a contested paper trail. The next rounds of evidence are likely to test whether the commission accepts his explanation — or treats it as another inconsistency in a case that is still unfolding.
