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A Sydney lawyer who falsified a document to secure a $150 million bank loan had her practising certificate cancelled.
Ashlyn Nassif, daughter of fugitive Sydney developer Jean Nassif, had her practising certificate cancelled after pleading guilty to publishing false or misleading material to obtain an advantage.
Former solicitor of EA Legal and Toplace – the construction company owned by her father – Nassif admitted in Downing Centre Court to creating a document that falsified the number of pre-sold units to secure a $150 million loan from Westpac.
Nassif avoided a jail sentence and instead received a six-month community corrections order with no supervision.
Her lawyer, Murugan Thangaraj SC, told the court “her career’s finished”, according to reporting by the national broadcaster.
Thangaraj also told the court Nassif sent off the document, sans signature, while allegedly “under pressure from her father”.
“She accepts that it’s a serious matter and that she breached her position of trust as a solicitor,” her lawyer was reported as saying.
Judge Christopher Halburd described Nassif as a “successful, hard-working young woman who would do almost anything not to disappoint her demanding father”.
“I accept there was a life-long pattern established well before adulthood to comply with her father,” Judge Halburd said.
The Council of the Law Society of NSW cancelled her practising certificate for the period 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, according to the Office of the Legal Services Commission’s register.
It followed her immediate suspension on 16 July.
