Shakedown claims against Nassif ‘weaponised’ to damage building commissioner: ICAC

A former Toplace lawyer has been accused of weaponising an alleged extortion attempt against disgraced developer Jean Nassif while refusing to take part in an investigation into the supposed shakedown.

Sharangan Maheswaran would not help the NSW Department of Fair Trading investigate the extortion claims despite having told then-building commissioner David Chandler of the attempt, the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard on Thursday.

After being briefed by Maheswaran on the alleged shakedown, Chandler reported the information to the department for investigation. But when a public servant contacted Maheswaran to get his version of events for an internal probe, the lawyer declined to participate in an interview.

Counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, said to Maheswaran: “You did that because, in fact, Mr Chandler and his office had effectively called your bluff and there was no extortion attempt, was there?”

“I reject both parts of that,” Maheswaran said.

The commission also heard Toplace representatives briefed News Corp journalists on claims there was a connection between an alleged break-in at one of Nassif’s building sites and the extortion attempt, but none of the allegations were reported to the police.

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

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

The commission also heard Maheswaran sent then Liberal powerbroker Charles Perrottet a “secret recording” purporting to show the extortion attempt.

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Toplace lawyer sent what he called a “secret recording” of Nassif with the alleged extortionist which he marked NFP (not for publication) and described as being “taken with the person designing the scheme”.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

Maheswaran responded: “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.”

Earlier, the commission heard that a contractor who Nassif had accused of leaking information to Chandler described him as a “dangerous person” after a heated confrontation in an inner west cafe.

The commission had previously heard Nassif alleged two contractors, Adrian Healey and Navid Ardestani, had attempted to extort him for $5 million in exchange for favourable outcomes with the building commissioner.

Dwyer read from a transcript of evidence given by Healey during an earlier private hearing. Healey said he agreed to meet Nassif at a cafe, where the developer immediately accused him of leaking information about defects in his buildings.

“He was extremely hostile and had then said what he said about someone reporting him to the building commissioner, and then he said he thinks it was me and pointed at me,” Healey said.

“I sort of stood up and I said, ‘Well, I want you to take that back’, I’m sure I would have used some expletives probably, but I felt myself wanting to de-escalate it because he seemed more of a dangerous person than probably when I’d met him at the beginning.”

Healey had said in private evidence that neither he nor Ardestani ever claimed to have a friend who could fix Nassif’s problems with Chandler. Rather, Ardestani knew a builder who could help rectify defects to comply with any orders from Chandler.

Dwyer suggested to Maheswaran he had made selective notes about a recording between Nassif and Ardestani to deliberately omit a denial of any shakedown.

She read out a transcript of a call between Nassif and Ardestani.

Nassif asked: “Where did you get your power, that power from? You can control the government.”

Ardestani responded: “Which power are you talking about?” to which Nassif said: “I’ve been told you can control the government, the commissioner.”

“The government?” a confused Ardestani asked. “The commissioner,” Nassif responded.

Ardestani then requested to see Nassif in person.

Nassif sent a recording of the conversation to Maheswaran, who created his own notes about the recording.

In his notes, Maheswaran did not include Ardestani’s confusion about Nassif’s claims, and only recorded his boss’s accusation about Ardestani controlling the government and “Navid asked for a meeting in person as he did not want to discuss it on the phone”.

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