Developer's lawyer linked to alleged ousting plot

A lawyer for a fugitive property developer has been dragged into an alleged plot to topple a former state MP.

Sharangan Maheswaran is under questioning at the Independent Commission Against Corruption over dealings with builder Jean Nassif, as well as former Strathfield Council colleagues.

Nassif, currently in Lebanon, previously gave bombastic evidence and is accused of involvement in plots to influence politics.

Mr Maheswaran also knew Nassif's political lobbyists, including Jeremy Greenwood whose relationship to an allegedly subversive Liberal faction is also under scrutiny.

The commission on Friday was told Mr Maheswaran and Mr Greenwood texted each other while working for Nassif.

Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer read into the commission a text from Mr Greenwood.

"We have something that will kill Elliott," it read, in reference to Nassif's perceived adversary and public critic, David Elliott.

Mr Maheswaran replied "your ears must be ringing", Dr Dwyer read to the ICAC.

"I just picked up the phone to let you know that I've got something decent," the text continued.

Mr Maheswaran also mentioned a story about Alex Hawke, a more centrist MP and another Nassif foe, which he believed would be published in a local tabloid.

For much of the morning's evidence, Mr Maheswaran fastidiously detailed the organisational structures which covered his relationship with Nassif.

Dr Dwyer at one point forced an intervention, saying: "companies are made up of humans, Mr Maheswaran, not robots, they're not remote things that exist in the ether".

"You personally, as a human, worked closely with Jean Nassif from September 2020, didn't you?" she asked.

He told the commission his relationship with the developer became more intertwined over time.