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The ICAC's Operation Rosny public hearings are expected to end after 38 days, with former Strathfield councillor Sharangan Maheswaran returning for a final day of evidence.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is expected to hear its final day of public evidence in Operation Rosny, with former Strathfield councillor Sharangan Maheswaran returning to the witness box for a final grilling.
The hearings have run for 38 days and, all going to plan, today should be the last day of public hearings entirely. Sharangan Maheswaran is scheduled to give evidence from 9:30am. The inquiry has heard allegations of blackmail, dirty deals, double-crosses and secret tape recordings spanning almost two decades. In the 2004 coup against Strathfield mayor Alfred Tsang, blackmailers used the code phrase: Did you fix the testicle?
In the modern version, the alleged blackmailers were buoyed by the emergence of a King of Swords reversed, courtesy of a tarot card reader consulted to determine the timing of the mayoral coup against Matthew Blackmore. Over 38 days of extraordinary public hearings, the ICAC has heard allegations of bogus contracts funnelling Catholic Schools NSW money to Liberal operatives. It has also heard about private investigators wielding secret recording devices to spy on political opponents.
Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif was accused of paying for political outcomes to damage his enemies. The commission will now digest the evidence, stacks of physical evidence including scores of texts, police intercepted phone taps, hours of private examinations and written submissions from persons of interest. Counsel assisting the commission Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, and a team of barristers have delivered 38 days of questioning.
Since the Operation Rosny allegations were referred to the ICAC by a member of parliament, then premier Dominic Perrottet, a report with findings will be tabled to the parliament. The ICAC itself cannot prosecute anyone. It can only make findings of corruption and provide a recommendation to the Department of Public Prosecutions. The most commonly prosecuted offence arising from these inquiries is lying to the ICAC.
Maheswaran Allegedly Met Mookhey To Share Claims
Last Friday, the inquiry heard that Sharangan Maheswaran met with Daniel Mookhey in 2021, then an opposition MP, to share allegations that the building commissioner was harassing his client. He did not reveal that the client was Toplace. Maheswaran wanted Mookhey to ask David Chandler questions at a budget estimates hearing. Instead, Mookhey referred the matter to the ICAC and suggested Maheswaran do the same, the inquiry heard.
Maheswaran sent damaging material about the building commissioner to journalists with the goal of getting a story published about Chandler, the inquiry heard. He also sent material to Charles Perrottet. The Toplace lawyer told Nassif he had met with key people who would support a push against the building commissioner, and told Nassif within four weeks he will be finished, the inquiry heard. Maheswaran denied participating in a plot to get Chandler sacked.
Maheswaran Admitted Fleeing Sydney To Avoid Summons
During a 2023 parliamentary inquiry into allegations of illegal donations in the Hills Shire, Maheswaran told a friend he fled Sydney to avoid a summons. Maheswaran and a fellow Labor Strathfield councillor wanted to oust then mayor Matthew Blackmore and install a Labor councillor so Labor could hold power in all levels of government by the 2023 state election, the inquiry heard.
Maheswaran consulted tarot cards about how things will go for Matthew, which was a lark, Maheswaran told the hearing. The ICAC will now consider all the evidence before tabling its report to parliament.
brisbanetimes 
smh:ICAC Operation Rosny LIVE updates: Former Strathfield councillor Sharangan Maheswaran returns for likely final day of public hearingsThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Sharangan Maheswaran Strathfield Council Matthew Blackmore Jean Nassif
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