'He will be finished': Toplace lawyer's promise to fugitive developer

A Toplace employee cautioned that the company faced severe building issues which could severely impact its operations, leading to a conversation with Jean Nassif about taking legal measures against the then-building commissioner. Lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran, affiliated with the firm, denied participating in any scheme to eliminate or harm David Chandler.

Maheswaran disappeared from Sydney to circumvent a parliamentary inquiry in 2023. The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating whether donations from Mr. Nassif were exchanged for political benefits, such as removing David Chandler from his position and preventing him from investigating Mr. Nassif's projects.

The warning surfaced in a 2021 communication between Mr. Nassif and his employee David Krepp, where Mr. Nassif emphasized the gravity of the defects, saying, "That's going to f*** us, Jean, the defects are huge." Mr. Nassif then instructed Krepp to contact Maheswaran, a central figure in the inquiry, and requested him to release a personal lawsuit against Chandler.

Maheswaran categorically denied involvement in any campaign targeting Chandler or attempting to remove him from his position. He also forwarded material related to Chandler to political associates, including a video of Chandler at a construction site that he believed could tarnish the commissioner's reputation. Maheswaran asserted that the actions were not part of a coordinated campaign against Chandler and believed the information was meant to draw attention to issues he considered problematic.

Chandler is not implicated in any wrongdoing. The inquiry also revealed that NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey forwarded Maheswaran's concerns about Chandler to ICAC a day after a meeting with the lawyer in 2021. In a statement, Mookhey, who was an opposition MP at the time, stated that Maheswaran described his client as a prominent builder whose projects had been affected by orders issued by Chandler.

Mookhey mentioned that Maheswaran raised allegations that Chandler had subjected his client to excessive inspections, issued incorrect defect notices, and made references during site visits that Maheswaran interpreted as an allusion to unrelated defamation proceedings. Maheswaran confirmed that he asked Mookhey to question the minister and building commissioner about these matters during a future budget estimates meeting.

Dr. Dwyer questioned Maheswaran about Mookhey's duty to report his allegations to ICAC and whether Mookhey stated that he couldn't raise the allegations in any parliamentary forum. Maheswaran admitted to not recalling the latter part but confirmed that Mookhey suggested referring the allegations to ICAC. The hearing also explored Maheswaran's relationship with Robert Assaf, a prominent figure in the right-wing Liberal group known as the NSW Reformers, which is at the heart of the investigation.

Maheswaran denied attempting to intimidate Assaf or dissuade him from testifying in a previous 2023 parliamentary inquiry. The commission heard that Maheswaran had provided Assaf with a false story about another individual's drug use, ostensibly to test Assaf's leak of information. Assaf was also referred to as "the rat," although Maheswaran claimed he believed Assaf gave himself the nickname.

The inquiry had previously heard about efforts by several individuals to evade being compelled to appear before the 2023 parliamentary inquiry. Maheswaran traveled to Cessnock shortly before he anticipated being served with a summons, claiming he had fled Sydney in anticipation of the hearing. He returned later, learning he had not been called to appear.

The inquiry had heard about the engagement of a private investigator to monitor lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood's residence and alert him if anyone attempted to serve him with a summons. Maheswaran denied orchestrating the surveillance.