Liberal operative says request to be wired before meeting was ‘silly’ comment, Icac hears

Jeremy Greenwood tells inquiry he does not remember a plan to release a false ‘mistress photo’ relating to David Elliott

A factional figure has denied he requested to be fitted with a wire before a meeting with fellow Liberals and said he can’t recall a plan to have the YouTuber Friendlyjordies run a negative documentary on a New South Wales minister, an inquiry has heard.

Jeremy Greenwood told the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Wednesday that a request to be “wire[d] … for sound” before a meeting with other Liberals was a “just a silly comment”.

Icac is investigating the allegation that Greenwood, Charles Perrottet and Christian Ellis shared in $2m in payments between 2020 and 2023 from fugitive developer Jean Nassif or his company Toplace in exchange for political outcomes.

They allegedly included the removal of the building commissioner David Chandler and damage to the career of the former NSW Liberal minister David Elliott.

Greenwood and Charles Perrottet, who is a brother of the former premier Dominic Perrottet, have denied taking illegal political donations. Ellis is overseas and is not expected to give evidence during the hearings. Dominic Perrottet is not a person of interest in Icac’s inquiry and is not accused of any wrongdoing.

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Greenwood was asked on Wednesday about a message he wrote to Toplace executive Sharangan Maheswaran ahead of a meeting with Liberal figures, in which he wrote: “Can I get Shane to wire me for sound tomorrow, and you guys pick up the bill?”

Maheswaran replied: “I can give you the equipment, or Shane can”.

Accepting the message referred to a private investigator employed by Toplace, Greenwood said it was a “silly” or “stupid comment”, and he did not believe the meeting took place.

He was asked by the counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC about a message Maheswaran sent to him in which Maheswaran wrote: “Let’s get that material to FriendlyJordies, a one-hour documentary on [Elliott], and then follow it up by releasing the mistress photo”.

Greenwood accepted the message likely referred to Elliott but said he could not recall what material Maheswaran was referring to. The inquiry was previously told that Greenwood and members of conservative factional group the Reformers created a “shit sheet” to discredit Elliott, including an allegation of an extramarital affair which Elliott has strenuously denied and witnesses including Greenwood have accepted is untrue.

Maheswaran, who is named as a person of interest in a separate Icac allegation, and has previously denied any wrongdoing, is expected to appear before the commission.

On Wednesday afternoon, questioning turned to an agreement where Charles Perrottet was remunerated for his advice to Nassif on his developments. The payments were made from lobbying companies controlled by Greenwood and Ellis, to Charles’s wife, Anita Perrottet.

Last week, Charles rejected the suggestion that he or his wife had lied to Icac, after she told the commission that payments to her were for genuine “strategic and marketing advice” she provided, while he said they were “holistic” payments covering his advice to Nassif and her work.

Greenwood acknowledged the agreement for the first time on Wednesday, saying “Charles’s advice was [of] far more benefit to [lobbying company] Beckington, but Anita’s was far more ongoing”, describing Charles’s advice using “the old analogy about a plumber”.

“You don’t pay them for how they hit the hammer, but knowing where to hit.”

The commission has previously heard there is no written record of advice Anita Perrottet gave to Beckington, which she said took the form of verbal advice. She said advice for Beckington client Greyhound Racing NSW, for which she was paid a $10,000 monthly retainer, included “creating websites … on how to properly humanely treat [dogs]”.

Greenwood on Wednesday said it was normal in the lobbying industry for advice to be verbal. He said he could remember Anita Perrottet coming up with the slogan “zero unnecessary euthanasia” for Greyhound Racing NSW, which he said was now industry policy.

Anita Perrottet told Icac advice provided to Greenwood’s lobbying firm JPG Advisory for an unknown “vaping client” included removing flavours to discourage minors from vaping.

On Wednesday, Greenwood described himself and Ellis, former both parliamentary advisers, as coming from the “Canberra bubble”, saying Anita Perrottet provided a “mum’s perspective”.

“The mum’s perspective is so important. It’s what everybody in politics looks for,” he said.

Dwyer, suggesting it was “absolutely common sense that you shouldn’t have flavours like bubblegum”, said: “You don’t need to pay Anita Perrottet up to $10,000 for a consultancy fee to get a mum’s perspective to come up with that.”

“You’re absolutely right, it’s common sense. Three years ago, it was legal,” Greenwood responded.

‘The Porsche comes in January’

On Monday, Greenwood told the commission about an agreement made in April 2020 with Nassif under which Beckington, controlled by him and Ellis, would be awarded $1m for each of up to five Toplace projects, if they were able to have them fast-tracked.

Following the agreement, the men allegedly discussed whether to buy a Porsche or Ferrari. The inquiry heard on Wednesday that after Greenwood complained about a lack of payment from Toplace, Ellis messaged him in December 2020 that an invoice of $400,000 had been paid.

“Good because the Porsche comes in January and I’m getting worried, but it’s also just really disrespectful from him [Nassif],” responded Greenwood.

In subsequent messages, he described Nassif as a “fuckwit” and said he had told Maheswaran that Nassif was “fucking the relationship”.

Greenwood has said the only written record of the agreement was a note once stored in the back of the Toplace general manager’s phone case. He claimed it contained the names of two of the projects, was folded in half, and was “fuchsia” or “purple-pink” in colour.

Dwyer suggested he had made up the piece of paper, which he accepted he had not mentioned in a preliminary interview with Icac.

Dwyer said: “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 absolutely incorrect,” Greenwood said.

Nassif is scheduled to appear via video link from Lebanon. He withdrew from an appearance last week after providing a medical certificate.

The inquiry continues.