‘I’ll hurt you’, developer allegedly told building boss
Sarah Spina-Matthews |
“Don’t you hurt my project or I’ll hurt you,” a fugitive developer reportedly told a state’s building commissioner when he halted sales in his apartment complex.
Former NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler faced the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday and gave evidence in its probe into allegations Liberal party operatives sought cash from Sydney developer Jean Nassif in exchange for political outcomes.
That allegedly included the ousting of Mr Chandler, who led a widely publicised campaign against rogue players in the construction industry.
Nassif is wanted by NSW Police over a fraud investigation, but has reportedly fled overseas.
Mr Chandler told the commission he inspected the Skyview development in Castle Hill, which Nassif’s company was behind, in April 2021 after being told about concerns around potential defects.
He eventually issued a prohibition order on the project to get an independent engineer to certify it.
The order prevented a certificate of occupancy from being granted, delaying the settlement of apartment sales in the complex.
He said Nassif then began leaving threatening voice messages.
“It was essentially, ‘Don’t you hurt my project, or I’ll hurt you,’ or something along those lines,” Mr Chandler said.
Nassif allegedly sent numerous text messages pleading for him to help him get his occupancy certificate followed by the praying emoji.
Mr Chandler said the phone correspondence came after he stopped agreeing to meet with Nassif in person.
He said Nassif “really laid into” him during their first and only face-to-face meeting in May 2020 over defect concerns in another of the projects.
“He just said .. ‘Don’t think you can just come in and step all over me because I’m an important person’,” Mr Chandler recalled.
“He was overbearing and loud. I’m not going to say he did anything physical, but certainly he was very animated in his expression.”
Mr Chandler also told the inquiry that in a subsequent meeting with representatives from Toplace, they said they received an email asserting Mr Chandler would lift the prohibition order if $5 million was paid into a nominated trust account.
But he said he called their bluff after urging them to report the apparent extortion attempt to NSW Police.
“That was just a disruption technique … basically to unsettle me,” Mr Chandler said.
Mr Chandler resigned from his role in 2022 after being cleared of allegations of misconduct.
Former NSW minister Eleni Petinos earlier gave evidence to the commission, saying strange encounters with party operatives had since left her suspecting her office was used to oust Mr Chandler.
AAP