In a stunning display of legal wit, an ICAC lawyer has informed Charles Perrottet that the key to lying is being 'really good at remembering it' - a lesson the brother of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet appears to have learned the hard way.

Charles Perrottet, one of three Liberal figures allegedly expecting $2m in prohibited political donations from developer Jean Nassif, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Monday that he 'made up' updates for Nassif to 'keep him on side.' The updates, delivered with a 'political flavour,' were part of his efforts to secure payments for Beckington, a lobbying firm controlled by Christian Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood.

Perrottet, a member of the NSW Liberals' conservative right faction, claimed he advised Nassif in hopes the developer would sign a statutory declaration about the rival centre-right faction's alleged circumvention of electoral funding laws - you know, the ones that stop property developers from donating. Because nothing says 'I'm fighting corruption' like making up stories to a property developer.

Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC wasn't buying it. She read a February 2020 message from Perrottet to Ellis about the centre-right's alleged schemes: 'It's the money train. They cannot donate, but they get around that in two ways: cash and monthly government affairs retainers … the going rate is $50,000 per month.' Dwyer suggested Perrottet wanted to climb aboard that same train. He denied it, naturally.

Earlier, Perrottet admitted to fabricating a 'short summary' for Nassif in January 2021, including a claim about contacting his 'PDU contact' - which apparently stood for the NSW Planning Delivery Unit, not a secret pizza delivery service. 'Ultimately, I made it up,' he confessed, adding he'd 'regularly mislead' Nassif about his own lobbying work.

Then came the pub meeting. In January 2021, Perrottet attended a Sydney pub meet with Toplace executive Sharangan Maheswaran, where he allegedly picked up a cheque for $148,500 for Beckington. He initially told Nassif it was for 'assistance for the upcoming preselections,' but later claimed it was for genuine lobbying. When Dwyer pointed out this contradicted his June testimony, Perrottet offered the classic 'It could be both.' Dwyer, unimpressed, delivered the zinger: 'The great truism about telling a lie, Mr Perrottet, is you have to be really good at remembering it.'

The commission also heard about Beckington's arrangement to receive 1% of Nassif's profits from fast-tracked developments - 'if you made $100m, you'd get 1%,' Perrottet explained, clearly a master of arithmetic if not of memory.

And let's not forget the family business. Perrottet's wife, Anita, received $660,999 over two-and-a-half years via her business Macquarie Consulting, supposedly for 'strategic and marketing advice.' Charles claimed he didn't think he needed to declare this as income, and insisted Anita was present during invoicing conversations with Ellis - contradicting her own testimony last week. Because nothing says 'healthy marriage' like coordinated tax evasion.

Nassif, who fled to Lebanon in 2022, is scheduled to appear by video link on Friday. He has denied any wrongdoing. Stay tuned for more episodes of 'As the Money Train Turns.'