Source : the age
Liberal operative Jeremy Greenwood told his business partner it was “really disrespectful” that developer Jean Nassif was tardy with payments because the lobbyist had a Porsche on the way, a corruption inquiry has heard.
Texts between Greenwood and his business partner and fellow Liberal apparatchik Christian Ellis revealed the pair were expecting $400,000 from Nassif’s construction company Toplace but were having trouble extracting the payments from the disgraced developer.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption heard on Wednesday that Ellis and Greenwood were frustrated because they felt they were not getting the payments they were owed.
Ellis assured Greenwood $400,000 was coming, to which Greenwood responded: “Good because the Porsche comes in January and I’m getting worried, but it’s also just really disrespectful from him.”
Those payments were part of a deal for their lobby firm Beckington to help secure a fast-track process for Nassif’s developments. Each project that was fast-tracked would earn Beckington $1 million under Nassif’s promise.
Counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, suggested to Greenwood he fabricated his evidence on Monday about a pink piece of paper which he insisted was the only record of Nassif’s promise to pay for each fast-tracked development project.
Greenwood on Monday told the commission a scrap of pink paper was the only document detailing a promise Nassif allegedly made to pay up to $5 million to Liberal lobbyists if they got his projects fast-tracked.
“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 denied this.
Dwyer asked: “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?”
“No, that’s that’s absolutely incorrect,” Greenwood said.
Dwyer told the corruption inquiry no one involved in the agreement, including Mouawad, who was the former general manager of Toplace, or the company’s lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran, ever mentioned this pink piece of paper in early private evidence.
The commission also heard on Wednesday Greenwood told a secret ICAC hearing in May 2023 Maheswaran acted as his personal solicitor, and they had a verbal costs agreement.
Greenwood gave an example that while they did not have an agreement on an hourly cost, on one occasion Maheswaran needed $30,000, which he happily paid.
Greenwood could not say how many times Maheswaran invoiced him, but said it was likely more than five times.
The commission has previously heard evidence from Greenwood that Maheswaran, who worked for Toplace, was trying to stop large project payments being made to Beckington, and got his own legal advice about the legality of the payments if they were considered success fees.
Dwyer put to Greenwood: “I suggest to you the threads of your story pull apart very quickly.”
“Really,” Greenwood retorted.
Alexandra Smith is a senior writer and former state political editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email.
