Former adviser denies link between Elliot message and developer — The Guardian
In Australia, former Labor Party Strathfield councillor Sharangan Maheswaran told the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that a message about potentially damaging the reputation of former state minister David Elliot was not connected to political work for developer Jean Nassif. The Guardian reports.
The matter concerns a message that lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood sent to Maheswaran in February 2020. Greenwood wrote that they had something that could destroy Elliot. In response, Maheswaran said that the Sydney Morning Herald was preparing an article about Liberal Party MP Alex Hawke amid a Labor Party bill to ban donations from developers.
Maheswaran’s position
During the hearing, Dwyer suggested that the correspondence indicated a shared interest between Maheswaran and Beckington in damaging Elliot’s reputation. The former councillor agreed that he and Greenwood shared an interest regarding Hawke’s faction in the Liberal Party, but rejected the suggestion that the messages were connected to Beckington’s work for Nassif.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Maheswaran had previously been Nassif’s lawyer and took up an executive position at his company Toplace in September 2020. According to him, at the end of 2019 he carried out work for Toplace as a subcontractor through the law firm EA Legal, associated with Nassif’s daughters Ashlyn Nassif and Evelyn Helou, as well as through Anwalt Pty Ltd. During the hearing, Maheswaran confirmed that he was then the sole shareholder and employee of Anwalt.
What ICAC is investigating
ICAC is investigating whether Maheswaran and another Labor Party Strathfield councillor, Karen Pensabene, acted in relation to former mayor Matthew Blackmore in a way that may have involved dishonest or biased performance of official duties, a breach of public trust, possible blackmail, or possible breaches of the Surveillance Devices Act. Maheswaran denies any wrongdoing.
The commission is also examining whether Greenwood, Charles Perrottet and Christian Ellis expected to receive A$2 million in prohibited donations from Nassif in exchange for political outcomes, including damage to Elliot’s political career; Elliot had opposed Toplace projects. Greenwood, Perrottet and Nassif deny that Nassif paid for political decisions. The hearings are ongoing.
