Developer Steve Nassif who torched $24m Sydney harbourside mansion discovers his fate Developer Steve Nassif, 71, sent to jail 2022 arson attack razed north shore estate to rubble READ MORE: Property tycoon Steve Nassif admits to role in blaze By Steve Zemek For Nca Newswire Published: 01:52 EDT, 16 August 2024 | Updated: 01:53 EDT, 16 August 2024 e-mail View comments A property developer who admitted to his role in an inferno that razed a $24m Sydney waterfront mansion has been jailed, waving to loved ones inside a courtroom on Friday as he was taken off to prison. Steve Nassif, 71, learnt his fate in Sydney's Central District Court after he was arrested in December 2022 over his role in an arson attack that reduced a luxury heritage-listed north shore estate to rubble. Earlier this year, Nassif pleaded guilty to one count of destroying property by fire after the Cliff Rd, Northwood heritage-listed mansion went up in flames in September 2022.
It took a team of 50 firefighters more than an hour to put out the inferno after flames as high as 20m terrified neighbours. The six-bedroom home was owned by property developer Ouyang "Owen" Chen, who is not accused of any wrongdoing. He bought the house, which boasted spectacular views of the Lane Cove River, Sydney's CBD and Anzac Bridge, a tennis court, boathouse, and an orchard, on Sydney's lower north shore for $24.
1m in 2021. Nassif and his then 19-year-old accomplice Adams Kipkosgei Bett mounted their first arson attempt in Augu.
