‘This is a serious question?’
Peggy Dwyer, SC, was attempting to ask Sharangan Maheswaran about his text messages around the time Jean Nassif fled to Lebanon when Maheswaran took issue with her line of questioning.
Dwyer pointed the former Labor councillor to a text he sent to a friend in March 2023, describing Nassif’s leaving the country as the “worst-case scenario”.
“Fundamentally, I don’t think I’ve done anything seriously unlawful,” Maheswaran told a friend.
“Did you think you might have done something a little bit unlawful, Mr Maheswaran?” Dwyer asked.
Maheswaran denies trying to intimidate Reformer Rob Assaf
Former Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran has denied intimidating Robert Assaf to stop him giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry.
Maheswaran has previously given evidence that Assaf, a key member of conservative Liberal factional group the Reformers, told him that Charles Perrottet was taking money from Jean Nassif in exchange for outcomes with the Hills Shire Council.
Maheswaran denied suggestions that he was trying to scare Assaf off giving evidence about Perrottet to the inquiry.
The ICAC heard Maheswaran fed Assaf a fake story about an individual and drugs, with the goal of exposing Assaf as someone who leaks. The inquiry also heard Assaf was given the nickname “the rat”.
Maheswaran said he believed Assaf gave himself that nickname.
‘I’ve fled Sydney’: Maheswaran’s attempts to avoid parliamentary inquiry
The public hearing has now turned to efforts Sharangan Maheswaran went to in order to avoid being caught up in the parliamentary inquiry into allegations of illegal donations in the Hills Shire.
“I’ve fled Sydney in anticipation of the hearing tomorrow. I’m in Cessnock,” Maheswaran texted a friend.
His friend asked how being in Cessnock would help him avoid the inquiry.
“They can’t find me to serve me,” Maheswaran said.
Maheswaran returned to Sydney a day later and told his friend: “I’m back from hiding, they didn’t call me.”
‘No numpties’: Security organised to help Jeremy Greenwood avoid parliamentary inquiry
The inquiry has now turned to a 2023 parliamentary inquiry into allegations of illegal donations in the Hills Shire, which wanted Charles Perrottet, Jean-Claude Perrottet, Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis to give evidence, but all men refused.
Shane De Kauwe, the private investigator, was engaged to help Greenwood avoid giving evidence by running surveillance on Greenwood’s home to alert him of anyone attempting to serve a summons.
Maheswaran denied helping arrange surveillance for Greenwood to avoid being summonsed.
In a text exchange around the time the NSW Parliament inquiry was seeking him to give evidence, Greenwood texted “can we get security sorted”.
Maheswaran replied: “No numpties, attentive ones.”
De Kauwe said he would get on it.
Note from Jean Nassif’s bedside table detailed $5 million agreement
We’ve heard a few different accounts during these public hearings of a scrap of paper which apparently detailed an agreement Jean Nassif made with Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis to pay $1 million per development project they succeeded in fast tracking – with a potential total of $5 million.
According to Greenwood’s evidence, that was on a pink piece of paper tucked into the phone case of a former Toplace staffer. We’ve also heard it may have been a manila-coloured sticky note.
Before we broke for lunch Peggy Dwyer, SC, produced a note found by police inside Nassif’s bedside table drawer during a search of his former Sydney home.
That note lists an agreement made in April 2020 for fast tracked developments with “$5 million potential”.
Sharangan Maheswaran said he had never seen that note before.
The hearing will return from lunch at 2pm.
‘The defects in there are huge’: Toplace employee
Peggy Dwyer, SC, has read onto the record a transcript of a recorded conversation between Jean Nassif and another Toplace employee David Krepp in 2021.
Krepp discussed with his boss the defect issues being raised by the building commissioner. Nassif tells Krepp he’ll see David Chandler soon in court.
“That’s going to f— us Jean, the defects in there are huge,” Krepp said.
Nassif tells Krepp to talk to Sharangan Maheswaran.
“Get Sharangan to release the personal lawsuit against Chandler,” Nassif said.
Jean Nassif wanted to launch personal lawsuit against David Chandler
Sharangan Maheswaran was just asked by Peggy Dwyer, SC, about a speech Liberal MP Ray Williams made to NSW Parliament, claiming Jean Nassif was supporting people within the Liberal Party.
“Did that slow down your attempts to target the building commissioner with a smear campaign?” Dwyer asked.
Maheswaran smiled and asked the presiding commissioner directly if he was required to answer that question.
“It’s a direct question, it is probably is a yes or no, at least to start with,” Fabian Gleeson, SC, told Maheswaran.
“No,” Maheswaran said.
The hearing also heard that in 2021 Nassif wanted to launch a personal lawsuit against then building commissioner David Chandler. Maheswaran denied Dwyer’s suggestion that this was a “personal attack”.
Maheswaran seemed surprised about ICAC referral: Mookhey’s statement
We’ve just been provided a copy of Daniel Mookhey’s full statement to the ICAC about a meeting he had with Labor member and Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran.
Mookhey, who was in opposition then but is now the NSW treasurer, said in his statement that Maheswaran declined to tell him who his client was that was making allegations about the building commissioner.
Maheswaran described his client at “prominent builder who had had some issues, but were fixing them up”, according to Mookhey’s account.
Mookhey told Maheswaran he had an obligation to report these allegations to the ICAC and wouldn’t raise his allegations in parliament.
Maheswaran denies plot to get building commissioner sacked
Sharangan Maheswaran told Jeremy Greenwood “you’ve got to get Eleni to stick him”, referring to getting (then) fair trading minister Eleni Petinos to take action against the building commissioner David Chandler, the ICAC has heard.
Maheswaran also sent screenshots of messages between Jean Nassif and a contractor, which the developer was alleging was evidence he was being extorted, to Charles Perrottet.
Maheswaran had also sent a video of Chandler and a transcript of his appearance at a budget estimates hearing to Greenwood with the goal of getting a media article published with negative claims against Chandler, the inquiry heard.
The lawyer denied participating in a plan to damage Chandler’s career to get him off Nassif’s back.
“I believe it was to call attention from at least the parliament, at some point, the media, and potentially the minister as to specific conduct that would be alarming to anyone,” Maheswaran said.
Chandler is not accused of wrongdoing.
Mookhey sent building commissioner allegations to ICAC after Maheswaran meeting
The ICAC has heard that Sharangan Maheswaran approached several members of parliament to speak about the building commissioner around the time then building commissioner David Chandler was set to appear before a budget estimates hearing, including Daniel Mookhey.
The corruption inquiry is now hearing about a meeting he had with Mookhey, now treasurer of NSW. In 2021 when the meeting was held, Mookhey was a Labor upper house MP.
In a statement provided to ICAC, Mookhey described a meeting he had with Maheswaran at a cafe near NSW Parliament. Mookhey said Maheswaran didn’t identify Toplace, but only referred to his client as a “prominent builder”
“Mr Maheswaran told me he had a client whose projects are or were the subject of prohibition orders made by the commissioner, and the decision by the building commissioner to make prohibition orders led to adverse public commentary about his client, which in turn led to their client commencing defamation proceedings against the 2GB radio station and one of its major presenters,” Mookhey’s statement read.
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