The Aporia · Former Labor councillor tasked with helping Jean Nassif with ‘company processes’

Alexandra Smith

14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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2026-10-31 · assertive framing · Secret spices, fantastic falafels and crispy chicken: Foodie paradise on new metro line

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2026-10-27 · assertive framing · The disastrous administrative blunder that will cost NSW Liberals $2m

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2026-10-24 · assertive framing · NSW Health audit finds 20,000 overdue endoscopy tests after warnings

🔮 The Minns government is refusing to amend laws that would give the state’s police watchdog stronger powers to access crucial NSW Police documents as the independent body investigates a string of high-profile cases, including allegations of improper promotion practices among the state’s most senior officers.

2026-10-04 · assertive framing · The state’s police watchdog wants extra powers. The NSW government has other ideas

🔮 A private investigator invoiced Jean Nassif’s development company $134,000 for surveillance of the former Strathfield mayor, with then-Labor councillor Sharangan Maheswaran convincing Toplace to pay the bill.

2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Nassif’s Toplace paid $134,000 for surveillance of Strathfield mayor

🔮 Detectives will explore whether speed was a factor.

2026-09-26 · assertive framing · ‘Going urgent isn’t worth your life’: Partner’s plea after officer killed in Sydney crash

🔮 Mookhey told Maheswaran he would not raise the concerns about Chandler in budget estimates, and they should instead be reported to the ICAC.

2026-09-25 · assertive framing · Mookhey referred commissioner claims to ICAC after meeting Labor lawyer

🔮 Sharangan Maheswaran, Nassif’s one-time lawyer and a former Labor councillor, offered the payment to lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood if he could convince a reporter to write a damaging story about Elliott having an affair.

2026-09-23 · assertive framing · ‘A thousand bucks for smear story’: Cash offered for negative Elliott coverage

🔮 The investigator said he had a few different listening devices, including devices that look like a pen or a “small square” that resembles a type of tag you would keep on a keychain.

2026-09-22 · assertive framing · Private investigator told police about alleged extortion attempt against Jean Nassif

🔮 The self-described Godfather grabbed the headlines in an action-packed week at the inquiry that began with a blackmail claim aired by a former mayor of Strathfield, took a sharp turn into Nassif’s Lebanese bedroom, then back to Strathfield where a key figure in the inquiry – former councillor Sharangan Maheswaran – made his first appearance.

2026-09-18 · mixed framing · Belligerence, blackmail and a Bangladeshi chatbot: What we learnt from ICAC week eight

Also by Alexandra Smith

Secret spices, fantastic falafels and crispy chicken: Foodie paradise on new metro line

2026-10-31 · The Sydney Morning Herald

The disastrous administrative blunder that will cost NSW Liberals $2m

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 14 articles by Alexandra Smith →

Jessica McSweeney

25 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Sources close to the golf club familiar with the negotiations, speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could talk freely, told this masthead the club first went to the prime minister’s office seeking help after a redistribution moved it from the electorate of Barton to his seat of Grayndler before the last election.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · The stink, the septic system and the $6m question: Inside Albanese’s Marrickville mess

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2026-10-26 · assertive framing · Shooters wary of surrendering firearms as confusion surrounds NSW gun buyback

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2026-10-25 · assertive framing · Minns’ $6.8 billion election promise for key passenger train line

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2026-10-19 · mixed framing · Commissioner’s SCG briefing, police miscommunications in spotlight at Town Hall protest inquiry

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2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Block on NSW gold mine rejected by federal court

🔮 In a letter to Ellis the next day, an ICAC investigator reiterated the arrangements they could make to facilitate his evidence.

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · After the ICAC brought political dirty dealing to light, one operative remained elusive

2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Nassif’s Toplace paid $134,000 for surveillance of Strathfield mayor

Also by Jessica McSweeney

The stink, the septic system and the $6m question: Inside Albanese’s Marrickville mess

2026-10-29 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Urgent biosecurity review after site of fire ant nest only required checking every three years

2026-10-28 · The Sydney Morning Herald

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2026-10-26 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Minns’ $6.8 billion election promise for key passenger train line

2026-10-25 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 25 articles by Jessica McSweeney →

Former Strathfield Labor councillor and Toplace executive Sharangan Maheswaran worked at Ashlyn Nassif’s law firm, where he was introduced to her disgraced developer father who wanted help to improve his “company structure and processes”. asserted

who → work → structure

Maheswaran, now a lawyer at XD Law, appeared before the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday, where he detailed how he came to know and work for Jean Nassif, the fugitive developer who ran the construction company Toplace before it collapsed in 2023. asserted

it → appear → 2023

Maheswaran joined the firm EA Legal, named after Nassif’s lawyer daughters Evelyn Helou and Ashlyn Nassif, in 2019. asserted

Maheswaran → join → 2019

Ashlyn has since been struck off after she pleaded guilty to serious fraud charges involving Toplace. asserted

she → strike → Toplace

Counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, said an unsigned statutory declaration prepared by Maheswaran detailed his role at Toplace, which included advising Nassif on improving his company structure and processes, providing views on planning matters and providing the developer with “general advice”. asserted

which → assist → advice

Maheswaran told the commission he came to know Jean Nassif through working for Ashlyn, who was only in her 20s when she was running her own law firm. asserted

she → tell → firm

The commission also asked Maheswaran about his links to Liberal Party operative Jeremy Greenwood, who was one of three party members who allegedly shared in a $2 million bribe from Nassif. uncertain

who → ask → Nassif

Greenwood was introduced to Maheswaran by another Liberal source, Robert Assaf, who was a founding member of the conservative faction of the Liberals known as the Reformers, the commission heard. asserted

commission → introduce → Reformers

The commission heard that Assaf’s father was a client of Maheswaran’s, who has a speciality in maritime law, and Maheswaran came to be good friends with Robert Assaf. asserted

Maheswaran → hear → Assaf

The commission was told that texts between Maheswaran and Greenwood when they were both doing work for Jean Nassif suggested they were teaming up to damage the political career of former police minister David Elliott, a known enemy of Nassif’s because he was critical of the developer’s unresolved defects on his buildings. uncertain

he → tell → buildings

“We have something that will kill Elliott,” Greenwood texted Maheswaran in 2020. asserted

Greenwood → have → 2020

Maheswaran responded: “Your ears must be ringing. asserted

ears → respond → ?

I just picked up the phone to let you know that I’ve got something decent.” asserted

I → pick → something

He also mentioned a story he believed was going to be published in this masthead about Alex Hawke’s centre-right faction. asserted

he → mention → faction

One of the lines of investigation for the commission is whether Greenwood, his business partner Christian Ellis, and former Liberal powerbroker Charles Perrottet accepted illegal payments from Nassif – who is a banned political donor in NSW – in return for damaging the political career of Elliott. asserted

who → accept → Elliott

Maheswaran said he understood that he had a shared interest with Greenwood around the Hawke faction but did not accept that the interest in damaging Elliott was related to work for Nassif at that time. asserted

interest → say → time

Former Labor councillor tasked with helping Jean Nassif with ‘company processes’

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