What we covered today
Thanks for joining us for another day of live coverage in the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.
The inquiry has finished questioning private investigator Shane De Kauwe and will return tomorrow with another full day in the witness box for Sharangan Maheswaran.
Until then, here’s a wrap of what we covered today:
- Shane De Kauwe was paid by Toplace to conduct surveillance, primarily on David Elliott and former Strathfield mayor Matthew Blackmore at the direction of Sharangan Maheswaran.
- De Kauwe did not believe allegations made by Jean Nassif that the building commissioner David Chandler was part of a plot to extort him of $5 million was true, and De Kauwe reported it to police after Nassif refused to do so.
- De Kauwe investigated Elliott and several Hills Shire councillors to look for “political vulnerabilities” and ran surveillance on Elliott. The private investigator was tasked with finding the identity of a mystery woman that Maheswaran said was believed to have met Elliott in breach of covid restrictions. His tailing of this woman included installing a camera pointed at her unit complex driveway.
- De Kauwe gave covert recording devices to Maheswaran and Jeremy Greenwood.
- The private investigator covertly recorded conversations between Blackmore and another former mayor Antoine Douehi at a cafe at Maheswaran’s request. Maheswaran provided him legal advice which led De Kauwe to believe he was able to lawfully make the recordings if he suspected corrupt conduct was being discussed.
Hearing moves to cross-examination
Juliet Curtin has finished her questioning of private investigator Shane De Kauwe and the hearing has now moved to cross-examination.
David Elliott’s barrister Bruce Levet asked a few questions about De Kauwe’s surveillance of Elliott on ANZAC Day 2022.
“Did you find any evidence of Mr Elliot having breached Covid restrictions?” Levet asked.
“I have no such evidence,” De Kauwe said.
“Did you find any evidence of Mr Elliot engaging in any extramarital affair?”
“No, and I’ve never said he did.”
‘I’ll stir him up’: Maheswaran wanted to agitate Blackmore during surveillance
The commission is now hearing about text messages between Sharangan Maheswaran and Shane De Kauwe during the surveillance of Matthew Blackmore.
While De Kauwe was covertly recording Blackmore in a cafe, Maheswaran asked if the private investigator had good audio on Blackmore.
“If so, I’ll stir him up,” Maheswaran texted.
Blackmore told the ICAC Maheswaran might have wanted to make himself known to Blackmore to try and encourage him to say something interesting on the covert recording.
“He’s suggesting, is he not, that he should do something or say something that might agitate Mr Blackmore, correct? Or cause him to commence discussions that might be useful for you in terms of your surveillance, correct?” Juliet Curtin asked.
De Kauwe agreed with this.
Nothing in transcripts to show corrupt conduct, ICAC hears
Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin is suggesting to Shane De Kauwe that transcripts he prepared of covertly recorded conversations between Matthew Blackmore and Antoine Douehi don’t show any evidence of corrupt conduct.
Curtin showed several pages of transcripts of what she said was largely inaudible recordings, with occasional mentions of “eggs on toast” or a “soy cap”.
De Kauwe insisted fragments from Douehi including him referencing using a “trust company” supports allegations the private investigator made in his report provided to Sharangan Maheswaran that the pair were discussing ways to hide money.
“I think the totality of the conversation shows a trend, also, I might say my report was being written to provide to law enforcement so that they could do further inquiries. I didn’t see this as the end state. It was to give them enough evidence to see why they would put resources into an investigation,” he said.
De Kauwe said he felt Blackmore, who was the mayor at the time, should not have been having this conversation with Douehi, whom he described as a developer.
Blackmore is not a person of interest in this inquiry.
De Kauwe covertly recorded Matthew Blackmore after legal advice from Sharangan Maheswaran
Shane De Kauwe is now telling the commission about a conversation he recorded between two former Strathfield mayors, Antoine Douehi and Matthew Blackmore.
De Kauwe sat nearby the two men at a cafe while he was being paid by Sharangan Maheswaran to run surveillance on Blackmore.
The private investigator had hearing aids in at the time, which allowed him to hear clearly the conversation between Blackmore and Douehi. De Kauwe said he suspected the men were speaking about corrupt conduct about the hiding of payments.
“In fairness to Mr Blackmore, it sounded to me more like Mr Douehi was schooling Mr Blackmore in how payments could be hidden, which that he could receive,” De Kauwe said.
De Kauwe paid to run surveillance on Matthew Blackmore
The public inquiry has returned from the lunch break and is now turning to surveillance Sharangan Maheswaran asked Shane De Kauwe to carry out on former Strathfield mayor Matthew Blackmore.
Maheswaran wanted to show Blackmore meeting with property developers, De Kauwe said. He was asked to take photos of and record the movements of Blackmore and another former mayor, Antoine Douehi.
In the first attempt at surveillance in May 2021 De Kauwe didn’t find anything, he told the ICAC.
Jean Nassif ordered surveillance on Ray Hadley, David Chandler while on the run
Jean Nassif wanted Shane De Kauwe to investigate his enemies including broadcaster Ray Hadley, building commissioner David Chandler and MP David Elliott, after fleeing Australia.
The ICAC heard Nassif gave the private investigator instructions while on the run from Australian authorities in Lebanon, amid the collapse of Toplace. De Kauwe said he relayed those instructions to Sharangan Maheswaran, and they decided not to go through with what Nassif had asked.
“Even after he’d gone to Lebanon, it appears he still wanted you to investigate Mr Chandler” Juliet Curtin asked.
“Yes,” De Kauwe said.
“And do you know for what purpose?” Curtin asked.
“He hated him,” De Kauwe said.
The public hearing has adjourned until 2pm.
Private investigator installed camera to watch woman’s unit during Elliott investigation
Private investigator Shane De Kauwe used a ladder to install a camera to watch a woman believed to be connected to David Elliott, under the instruction of Sharangan Maheswaran, the ICAC has heard.
De Kauwe had been asked to find the identity of a woman alleged to have met Elliott years prior in an alleged breach of COVID-19 restrictions, which Maheswaran wanted to provide to a journalist.
Part of his investigation including setting up a camera above a driveway at a block of units to try and capture the woman’s car.
“You acknowledge you had no authority to install a static camera on the building where you did install it?” assistant commissioner Fabian Gleeson, SC, asked.
“Correct,” De Kauwe said.
De Kauwe took his instructions from Maheswaran, but he was asked to invoice Toplace for his work. He charged Jean Nassif’s company $14,995.95 for his surveillance work, the ICAC heard.
De Kauwe ‘didn’t find anything’ on David Elliott
Shane De Kauwe is still being asked about his surveillance and investigation of David Elliott.
Text shown to the inquiry show De Kauwe recommending to Sharangan Maheswaran that he prepare a “pattern of life review” to determine Elliott’s routine, for example if he was a morning person or when he went to work. He also floated potential “sting ops”.
De Kauwe said Maheswaran wanted to find out the identity of a woman Elliott was accused to have met in breach of COVID-19 restrictions. He also wanted to find any political vulnerabilities.
“We didn’t find anything, Mr Elliott did his job. He went to the ANZAC parade, he appeared to me to be doing his job, and we lost him,” De Kauwe said.
De Kauwe investigated ‘political vulnerabilities’ from David Elliott, Hills Shire councillors
We’re back now from the morning tea break, and Shane De Kauwe is describing the investigative work Sharangan Maheswaran paid him to conduct into David Elliott and Hills Shire councillors.
De Kauwe was asked to “look for political vulnerabilities through open-source messaging that Mr Elliott or some of his colleagues may have been involved in”, the ICAC heard.
The private investigator said Maheswaran told him he was motivated to find material against Elliott because the MP had attacked a friend of his and was backgrounding the media, and Maheswaran wanted to “return serve”, as De Kauwe put it.
The list of Hills Shire councillors that Maheswaran gave to De Kauwe to pursue did not include all councillors on the council at that time, the ICAC heard.
“Can we cut to the chase Mr De Kauwe,” assistant commissioner Fabian Gleeson, SC, interjected. “Did you, in this assessment report, identify any political vulnerability referable to Mr David Elliott?”
“None at all,” De Kauwe said.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
