Intercepted phone calls between a daughter and her fugitive property developer father might not be allowed to be used in a fraud case against her, despite forming a major part of the prosecution’s case.
Ashlyn Nassif, who is a trained lawyer, claims the calls made during an investigation into her father Jean Nassif should fall under the category of legal professional privilege.
Hundreds of Mr Nassif’s calls were intercepted by NSW Police during a 2021 investigation into suspected money laundering at Sydney’s The Star casino, a court was told on Wednesday.
Ms Nassif was an executive at her father’s Toplace development firm, which has been banned from engaging in construction work by NSW Fair Trading after a string of defects in multiple, major apartment projects.
She is facing allegations she submitted falsified documents to trigger a $150 million loan from Westpac for the construction of three apartment towers in the northwestern Sydney suburb of Castle Hill.
Magistrate Christopher Halburd said he would allow a NSW Police detective senior constable to be questioned about the phone calls before Ms Nassif’s case proceeded.
He told a hearing in Burwood Local Court that prosecutors would have a “very strong case indeed” if the calls were allowed, but would be significantly weaker without them.
Prosecutors have argued the calls could reasonably fall into a number of different categories, including discussions between a father and daughter about family matters.
The calls could also be classified as being about business matters between Toplace executives or between a solicitor and client, Mr Halburd said.
“I intend to allow cross-examination on a much narrower scope than was sought by the applicant,” he said.
A hearing has been set for November 29 to hear from the detective senior constable about the phone calls.
Mr Nassif left Australia for Lebanon in 2022 and is being pursued by NSW Police following a two-year fraud investigation.
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