Source : the age
Hello and welcome back to the Herald’s live coverage of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.
I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney and I’ll be bringing you all the news as it happens from the hearing room as Jeremy Greenwood returns to the witness box for what is likely his last day of evidence.
The commission is starting at the slightly earlier time of 9.30am today, but before we get stuck in let’s take a quick look at what we covered on Monday:
- Greenwood told the corruption inquiry Jean Nassif promised to pay $1 million to Beckington for each of five projects he wanted them to fast-track, and the only record of this agreement was a scrawled note by a Toplace staffer on a “pink piece of paper” hidden in the back of her phone case.
- Beckington secured fast-track status for two projects, but Nassif had “buyer’s remorse” about paying the $2 million, Greenwood said, and would split payments into smaller cheques.
- Greenwood said Jean Nassif respected Charles Perrottet and was motivated to pay bills to Beckington if Perrottet threatened to stop giving the developer political updates.
- Greenwood said he wasn’t paid by Toplace to damage David Elliott’s political career, rather he and Sharangan Maheswaran saw it as a “personal project”.
- Greenwood and his business partner Christian Ellis were receiving substantial income through Beckington only a year after setting up the company, and were discussing buying a Ferrari or a Porsche when anticipating large payments would come in from Nassif, the inquiry heard.
Peggy Dwyer, SC, has suggested Jeremy Greenwood fabricated his evidence on Monday about a pink piece of paper which he says is the only record of Jean Nassif’s promise to pay $1 million to Beckington per fast-tracked development project.
“Not once in any private examination did you mention a pink or fuchsia or any other coloured piece of paper that was folded into the back of Larissa Mouawad’s phone and purported to name two development projects. Is that right?” Dwyer asked.
Greenwood said no, he hadn’t.
“And that’s because it was a recent invention that you came up with on Monday or prior to Monday to explain that arrangement, isn’t it?” Dwyer asked.
“No, that’s that’s absolutely incorrect,” Greenwood said.
Dwyer told the corruption inquiry no one involved in the agreement, including Mouawad and fellow Toplace staffer Sharangan Maheswaran, ever mentioned this pink piece of paper.
Jeremy Greenwood is taking to the witness box at the slightly earlier time today of 9.30am, signalling it could be a long day of questioning at the ICAC.
On Monday Greenwood gave extraordinary evidence that the only written record of a deal offered by Jean Nassif to pay Greenwood’s company Beckington $1 million per development project they successfully added to the state government’s fast-track list, was scrawled on a piece of pink paper and tucked inside the phone case of a Toplace staffer.
That led Peggy Dwyer, SC, to push Greenwood to describe the paper in detail. He thought it was likely larger than 10cm, and was folded over and placed inside Toplace general manager Larissa Mouawad’s phone case.
“Was it hot pink, light pink? What sort of pink?” Dwyer asked.
On Monday, Jeremy Greenwood was mostly asked about his dealings with Jean Nassif and Charles Perrottet in connection with his company Beckington, but today it’s likely the lobbyist will also be questioned about his other company, JPG Advisory.
With the “money train” (as counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer, SC, puts it) spanning different companies and political groups it can be easy to lose track of which is which. Here’s a brief reminder:
Beckington Group: The lobbying and government relations firm set up by Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis. Earlier ICAC heard witness Dylan Whitelaw was an employee, and Charles Perrottet said he was helping his friends chase developer Jean Nassif for money owed to Beckington for work they did to assist with his developments. The ICAC is investigating if Beckington was actually receiving unlawful political donations from some of its clients, including Catholic Schools NSW, and hotelier Michael O’Hara, which were used to support the work of the Reformers.
The Reformers: The right-wing, religious sub-factional group working to recruit more members to the Liberal Party to boost the power of the hard-right faction, particularly in the Hills where a political civil war had erupted between the right and centre-right factions. Christian Ellis, Robert Assaf, Jean-Claude Perrottet and Dylan Whitelaw were all considered key Reformers.
JPG Advisory: The firm Jeremy Greenwood started after splitting from Beckington. He paid Jean-Claude Perrottet to work as a middle man to secure a contract with Catholic Schools NSW, which was previously held by Beckington.
Macquarie Consulting: Anita Perrottet’s company, which received large payments from Beckington and JPG Advisory for advice she gave to clients, which included Greyhound Racing NSW. This company also received money in compensation for Anita’s husband Charles Perrottet’s advice he gave to Beckington to help Jean Nassif’s developments.
Toplace: Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif’s company. Toplace collapsed after Nassif fled Australia for his homeland Lebanon amid a NSW Police fraud investigation. More than 20 Toplace apartment buildings had defects.
Hello and welcome back to the Herald’s live coverage of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.
I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney and I’ll be bringing you all the news as it happens from the hearing room as Jeremy Greenwood returns to the witness box for what is likely his last day of evidence.
The commission is starting at the slightly earlier time of 9.30am today, but before we get stuck in let’s take a quick look at what we covered on Monday:
- Greenwood told the corruption inquiry Jean Nassif promised to pay $1 million to Beckington for each of five projects he wanted them to fast-track, and the only record of this agreement was a scrawled note by a Toplace staffer on a “pink piece of paper” hidden in the back of her phone case.
- Beckington secured fast-track status for two projects, but Nassif had “buyer’s remorse” about paying the $2 million, Greenwood said, and would split payments into smaller cheques.
- Greenwood said Jean Nassif respected Charles Perrottet and was motivated to pay bills to Beckington if Perrottet threatened to stop giving the developer political updates.
- Greenwood said he wasn’t paid by Toplace to damage David Elliott’s political career, rather he and Sharangan Maheswaran saw it as a “personal project”.
- Greenwood and his business partner Christian Ellis were receiving substantial income through Beckington only a year after setting up the company, and were discussing buying a Ferrari or a Porsche when anticipating large payments would come in from Nassif, the inquiry heard.
