Ex-premier’s brother, senior Liberal to front inquiry
Farid Farid |
The brother of a former premier and a senior Liberal MP will be hauled in front of a high-profile corruption inquiry.
A NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating alleged illicit political donations and branch-stacking, spearheaded by the Reformers, a conservative Christian faction among the NSW Liberals.
Prominent players included two brothers of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet.
Jean-Claude Perrottet is accused of being part of a sophisticated branch-stacking operation through a ramping up of memberships in the Hills Shire Council area and funnelling undeclared funds to hidden accounts.
When the allegations first surfaced in 2022 and a subsequent parliamentary inquiry was established in 2023, Mr Perrottet travelled to Fiji to avoid fronting the inquiry at the time.
But ICAC announced on Friday, during one of its public hearings, he would show up from Tuesday.
The Hills Shire is where alleged political moves were designed to benefit the business interests of fugitive property developer Jean Nassif, who is also being investigated. investigated.
Political donations from developers, as well as those from the liquor and gambling industries, have been banned in NSW since 2009.
Veteran Liberal MP Damien Tudehope has also been called as a witness in the inquiry.
Her served as finance minister during Mr Perrottet’s short-lived premiership before he lost the 2023 state election.
Mr Tudehope stepped down from the frontbench as shadow attorney-general in July to avoid being a distraction to the battered Liberal Party.
He is due to appear in the witness box on Monday.
Three key allegations of corrupt conduct are being investigated by the inquiry, driven by “the confluence of personal greed and political ambitions”.
At the centre of them is Nassif, pursued by NSW Police after a two-year fraud investigation while believed to be living in Lebanon.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest, while 57 companies linked with his company Toplace are in administration.
AAP