ICAC Operation Rosny as it happened: Former Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran denies weaponising Jean Nassif extortion claims

Hello and welcome to another day of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.

I’m state politics reporter Jessica McSweeney, and I’ll be bringing you all the latest updates as they happen inside the hearing room.

Today former Toplace lawyer and Strathfield councillor Sharangan Maheswaran returns to the witness box after a long day of questioning yesterday about his use of private investigators, and a secret recording made by his former boss Jean Nassif, which purported to show evidence of an extortion attempt.

Yesterday Maheswaran protested that a transcript, prepared by the ICAC of a recorded conversation between Nassif and his supposed extorter, did not reflect the evidence he believed was on the tape. This morning we’re likely to hear the actual audio played to the commission to get to the bottom of what really happened in that meeting.

Before then, here’s a recap of what we covered yesterday:

• Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran offered government relations consultant Jeremy Greenwood $1000 if he could convince a journalist to publish a story about the MP David Elliott supposedly breaching COVID restrictions with a mystery woman. Elliott is not accused of wrongdoing.
• Jean Nassif alleged a contractor, who was chasing him for money he believed he was owed, was also attempting to extort him for $5 million, to be paid to a third party, in exchange for getting the building commissioner to drop a prohibition order against his development. Maheswaran told the then-commissioner, David Chandler, about the alleged extortion attempt but did not report it to police.
• A transcript of a conversation recorded by Nassif with the contractor Navid Ardestani did not show any proof of such extortion attempt, Peggy Dwyer, SC, suggested. Text messages also showed Ardestani saying he didn’t do anything illegal and didn’t make any threats. Maheswaran insisted extortion or bribery threats were made, just not over text, and asked the ICAC to play an audio recording tomorrow which he believes will show references to a $5 million payment being requested.
• Maheswaran told the commission Nassif didn’t want to go to the police about the extortion allegation. Instead, Maheswaran told Chandler, who he hoped would refute any suggestion he was connected to the extortion attempt which would then put Nassif’s mind at ease, and deter him from paying $5 million to unnamed third party. Chandler insisted Maheswaran go to the police if Toplace had any such evidence.

Thanks for joining us for another day of public hearings in the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.

Today was another full day of evidence from former Toplace lawyer and one-time Labor Strathfield Councillor Sharangan Maheswaran, who was asked today about allegations made by his former boss Jean Nassif, that a contractor claimed to have sway in the office of the building commissioner and was demanding money to make scrutiny of Toplace developments go away.

The former commissioner David Chandler is not accused of any wrongdoing.

We’ll return tomorrow for another full day of evidence, but for now, here’s a recap of what we covered today:

• Sharangan Maheswaran denied weaponising extortion allegations to try and get the building commissioner off Jean Nassif’s back, after the ICAC heard Maheswaran told Charles Perrottet and journalists about the extortion, but didn’t report the allegations to ICAC or the police. Maheswaran said he believed Perrottet was following up the allegations with a contact inside the Department of Fair Trading. Maheswaran declined to be interviewed during an investigation triggered when David Chandler reported the allegations to the department, the ICAC heard.
• Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer, SC, showed the commission text messages, transcripts from secret recordings and evidence given during private hearings showing the contractor Navid Ardestani denying Nassif’s claims that he was part of a shakedown attempt. Maheswaran has insisted audio from a secret recording does show Ardestani making comments that, in Maheswaran’s mind, supported the claims he was hearing from Nassif, but that audio was not played to the inquiry.
• Another contractor, Adrian Healey, was accused by Nassif in a heated meeting of leaking information to the building commissioner. He told the ICAC he felt Nassif was “dangerous” at that meeting and denied ever leaking information.

Sharangan Maheswaran has denied weaponising extortion allegations made by Jean Nassif to try and get the former building commissioner to stop scrutinising defects in Toplace developments.

Maheswaran was reminded that while Toplace was telling journalists of a connection between a break-in at a Toplace property and an alleged extortion attempt, he refused to be interviewed for a Department of Fair Trading investigation that was attempting to uncover if there was any truth to claims the alleged extorter had influence with the building commissioner.

Text messages between Jean Nassif and a contractor he alleged was extorting him were sent to Charles Perrottet, but not to NSW Police, the ICAC heard.

“I suggest to you that you were trying to weaponise these messages … in an effect, to try and get the building commissioner off Mr Nassif’s back. What do you say to that?” Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked.

“I can go further, but I disagree,” Maheswaran said.

The public hearing has now adjourned and will return tomorrow morning.

The corruption inquiry has heard that Sharangan Maheswaran sent Charles Perrottet a “secret recording” purporting to show an extortion attempt against Jean Nassif.

Maheswaran told the ICAC that Perrottet, who worked full-time for oil company BP at the time, asked for evidence of the supposed shakedown attempt because he had a contact inside the department who he wanted to raise it with.

The Toplace lawyer sent what he called a “secret recording” of Nassif with the alleged extortionist which he marked NFP (not for publication) and described as being “taken with the person designing the scheme”.

“So you’re reporting these threats, as you say, connected with a break-in to the media, one, you’re reporting these threats to Charles Perrottet, two, but you don’t report these threats to the NSW Police, correct?” Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked.

“I suppose that is correct, but again, I’m not sending it to Charles Perrottet so that he can do whatever he will with it … I’m providing it to him at his request because he believes, or he’s represented to me, that he will be raising it with an appropriate person,” Maheswaran said.

The corruption inquiry has heard claims that a known bikie was present at a meeting between Jean Nassif and a contractor, who he was accusing of leaking information and extorting him.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, has read from a transcript from Navid Ardestani’s private evidence. He described a meeting with Nassif at a Concord cafe when he claims he was chasing the developer for money owed for genuine work done.

When asked where a confrontation happened with Nassif, he said: “I think outside in the coffee shop. I think that was the time he had that David Lima guy come, probably.”

“Crazy Dave” Lima, also known as Sofe Veiru Levi, is a one-time Notorious bikie gang enforcer.

“He and many other people with different cars with dark windows that turned up. I think he was doing the delay game to keep us there, and he had these guys coming,” Ardestani told the commission.

Ardestani claimed in his evidence that Nassif forced him under duress to sign a deed of release to be paid an amount of money much lower than he believed he was owed.

Sharangan Maheswaran witnessed the deed of release, but told the ICAC he did not see any indication that Ardestani was under duress.

While we wait for the public hearing to return from lunch, here’s a reminder of what former building commissioner David Chandler told the ICAC about claims Toplace had received a shakedown threat.

Chandler told the inquiry that he reported the allegations to his department and followed up with Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran, who declined to be interviewed about the allegations.

Chandler said he offered to go straight to the police with this purported shakedown attempt, but Toplace declined. They didn’t provide Chandler with a copy of the email they said included the attempted extortion, he said.

“I think they wanted me to believe they were taking it seriously, but that they hadn’t landed on being certain that it was a genuine attempt,” Chandler said.

Chandler said to him, it looked like Toplace then tried to walk back the allegations.

“Of course, they saw that it was going to be of no help to them in getting an occupation certificate, had no bearing whatsoever, and I think they wanted to take the tension out of the air and get on with the fact that they were going to fix this building to my satisfaction, or to the advice that I would take from an independent engineer that it was satisfactorily remediated, and not until that occurred was there to be any further progress of the occupation certificate,” Chandler said.

Sharangan Maheswaran has denied deliberately omitting evidence while crafting a statutory declaration to imply a contractor was attempting to extort Jean Nassif.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, told the commission that Maheswaran’s document implied wrongdoing by contractor Navid Ardestani, but did not include times Ardestani expressed his surprise or rejection of Nassif’s accusations over the phone or over text.

“I’m suggesting to you that you have acted dishonestly and improperly in creating those two documents, suggesting that there was some sort of impropriety on behalf of Navid,” Dwyer said.

“No, I recorded the information I was provided, and then used that as a basis to further set out information,” Maheswaran said.

He told the commission he never sent the document “to the world”, but would have added as an attachment any transcripts or recordings he had.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, has now read out to the commission evidence from the contractor Navid Ardestani, who Jean Nassif had accused of an attempt to extort him.

Sharangan Maheswaran has previously told the commission he had reason to believe something like a “shakedown” may have occurred, based on what Nassif and others had told him.

Ardestani told the ICAC during a private hearing in 2024 that he never tried to extort Nassif. He denied Nassif’s assertions that Ardestani claimed to have influence with the former building commissioner, David Chandler.

“The only corrupt person here – I’m not an angel, let’s get this right – but the only person, corrupt person here, is Jean Nassif,” Ardestani told the ICAC.

On Ardestani’s version of events, he was trying to introduce Nassif to a builder to fix defect in his buildings that were being investigated by Chandler.

Ardestani said he told Nassif: “If you don’t, this guy is going to demolish you and finish you off. He’s not a person you can pay off … or try to play games or arrange to get him shoot [sic] or something, some shit like that.”