Source : the age
The ICAC’s public hearing has wrapped for today, and will return tomorrow morning with more evidence from Sharangan Maheswaran.
Before we adjourned, Maheswaran requested that the hearing be played audio recorded by Jean Nassif of a conversation he had with the contractor he accused of extorting him, Navid Ardestani. The presiding commissioner indicated that the commission would hear that recording tomorrow morning.
Before then, let’s take a look at what we covered today:
- Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran offered government relations consultant Jeremy Greenwood $1000 if he could convince a journalist to publish a story about the MP David Elliott supposedly breaching covid restrictions with a mystery woman. Elliott is not accused of wrongdoing.
- Jean Nassif alleged a contractor who was chasing him for money he believed he was owed was also attempting to extort him for $5 million, to be paid to a third party, in exchange for getting the building commissioner to drop a prohibition order against his development. Maheswaran told the then commissioner, David Chandler, about the alleged extortion attempt but did not report it to police.
- A transcript of a conversation recorded by Nassif with the contractor Navid Ardestani did not show any proof of such extortion attempt, Peggy Dwyer, SC, suggested. Text messages also showed Ardestani saying he didn’t do anything illegal and didn’t make any threats. Maheswaran insisted extortion or bribery threats were made, just not over text, and asked the ICAC to play an audio recording tomorrow which he believes will show references to a $5 million payment being requested.
- Maheswaran told the commission Nassif didn’t want to go to the police about the extortion allegation. Instead Maheswaran told Chandler, who he hoped would refute any suggestion he was connected to the extortion attempt which would then put Nassif’s mind at ease, and deter him from paying $5 million to unnamed third party. Chandler insisted Maheswaran go to the police if Toplace had any such evidence.
Sharangan Maheswaran has been taken through a transcript of a conversation Jean Nassif recorded with Navid Ardestani, who Nassif alleges was extorting him.
The meeting happened the day after Maheswaran told then-building commissioner David Chandler about the alleged extortion attempt.
Nassif had accused the contractor of leaking evidence of defects in his buildings to Chandler, but Ardestani rejected this, and referred to some kind of LinkedIn post as being to blame.
“I didn’t dob you in,” he told Nassif.
Nassif went on to ask Ardestani if he knew the building commissioner, and who he knew connected to the building commissioner. Ardestani said he knew “one guy” but didn’t know the commissioner himself.
Sharangan Maheswaran has told the inquiry that he raised the extortion allegations with then-building commissioner David Chandler hoping to put Jean Nassif’s mind at ease.
Maheswaran said Nassif had made allegations that a third party was asking for $5 million, and suggested that they, in exchange, could get the building commissioner to overturn a prohibition order. He told Chandler about this alleged extortion attempt at an in-person meeting.
“Mr Nassif was taking this very, very seriously, was contemplating paying $5 million to these people, and, from my perspective, this was obviously not something that was real, and the best way to dispel that illusion in Mr Nassif’s mind is to raise it with the commissioner with whom we had a good relationship with, who would totally reject this and would negate any possibility in the idea of Mr Nassif’s mind that these people had some ability to assist him,” Maheswaran said.
Chandler previously gave evidence that, when told of this alleged extortion attempt, he told Maheswaran if Toplace had any evidence it should go to the police. Nassif did not want make a police complaint.
“I suggest to you it was a tactic that you had adopted to try and pressure an independent office holder who was appointed to clean up the building industry, that is, Mr Chandler,” Peggy Dwyer, SC, said.
“I can’t even understand the logic of that suggestion, but I reject it,” Maheswaran said.
The corruption inquiry has heard evidence that, while Jean Nassif was claiming to his Toplace offsider Sharangan Maheswaran that he was the victim of an extortion attempt, another Toplace employee was also in contact with the apparent extortioner.
Navid Ardestani, who the ICAC earlier heard was chasing payment for work done for the developer, texted Toplace employee Charbel Barakat asking him to chase the payments.
“Jean is not responding again, and made me look bad in front of the other builder who was going to help with the remediation work in Castle Hill. Please advise,” Ardestani texted.
Ardestani then forwarded Barakat the following text exchange.
Jean Nassif: “I don’t want to work with you guys, and you are fully paid. Stop threatening us with the union, the commissioner. Your crooked and corrupt lawyers, and with the boys, need to get paid. You should have paid them instead of spending the money on buying farms and other private businesses. Stay away from me because I’m forwarding this to my criminal attorney and putting you on notice that you’re going to be responsible for any harms or damages that happen to me and my family and my business.”
Navid Ardestani: “I really don’t understand your text, Jean. Get us paid, please, and we can finalise friendly. We don’t make threats, and we never did. And also, we don’t do anything illegal. Very confusing text. Get us paid, please.”
Maheswaran said Nassif’s texts were evidence of some threat being made against him, even if it didn’t appear in text messages.
Peggy Dwyer, SC, has read out to the commission the full text exchange between Jean Nassif and a former contractor.
Some of the messages had been sent by Nassif to Sharangan Maheswaran as supposed proof of an extortion attempt. Dwyer has instead suggested the full exchange shows the messages were about chasing payments for work done, and organising genuine work to remediate defects in Nassif’s developments.
Navid Ardestani’s first text to Nassif read: “Hi, mate. As we spoke today, the purpose of this meeting was to get my mate, the builder, to come and fix the issues that the building commissioner requested to be fixed. He’s a good person for remediation work, specifically in the large buildings. Have a good evening and enjoy the wedding. Thank you for seeing us. Best regards, Navid.”
The pair go on to discuss meeting up for a discussion.
The inquiry has heard a second recorded phone call between Jean Nassif and Navid Ardestani, a painter who had done work for Toplace.
In the call, Nassif continues to accuse Ardestani of sharing a report with then-building commissioner David Chandler, and the painter repeatedly asks Nassif to meet him in person. Nassif repeatedly raises his voice.
Ardestani says in the recording if he was Nassif, he would agree to meet in the city to sort their issues out.
“If you were me, but unfortunately, you’re not me. You know what I mean?” Nassif replies.
The inquiry has heard an audio recording of Jean Nassif speaking on the phone to a man he claimed was extorting him for money on behalf of former building commissioner David Chandler.
Chandler is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The commission heard earlier that a one-time contractor for Toplace, Navid Ardestani, had been chasing Nassif for payments he felt he was owed for work done.
“Please arrange the payment and let’s stay friends and finish the project. We have good intention for you and the company. Please do the right thing, mate,” Ardestani texted Nassif.
The commission has returned from lunch, and Peggy Dwyer, SC, has resumed her questions to Sharangan Maheswaran about activities at Toplace during the period that former building commissioner David Chandler was scrutinising developments.
The inquiry is hearing text messages between Jean Nassif and a painter, Navid Ardestani, who was contracted to do work for Toplace, which Nassif forwarded to Maheswaran.
In the texts, Ardestani is chasing money he believed he was owed by Nassif.
The inquiry is now turning to Sharangan Maheswaran and Jean Nassif’s exchanges about the time concerns were raised with the building commissioner concerning apparent defects in Toplace’s Skyview development in Castle Hill.
Then-building commissioner David Chandler had been sent a dossier of photographs from the development appearing to show defects. Nassif believed Chandler was unfairly targeting him.
“You must have then thought, Mr Maheswaran, that actually Jean Nassif’s agitation and suggestion that this was all a conspiracy to get him out of the industry was not correct?” Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked.
“I had mixed views about Mr Nassif’s suspicions. There were things that tend to corroborate his suspicions. There were things that tended to discount his suspicions,” Maheswaran said.
The corruption inquiry was played a phone tap recording between Sharangan Maheswaran and Jean Nassif after a meeting Maheswaran had with then-building commissioner David Chandler and a team of lawyers.
Maheswaran relayed to Nassif that Chandler felt he had no choice but to take action against Toplace because he was worried about people buying apartments.
He goes on to list the things Chandler wanted from Toplace, including a guarantee of work to fix defects.
“Tell them to get f—–,” Nassif told Maheswaran.
