What Did 'Kill Elliott' Mean? ICAC Tests Gossip Against Paid Politics
Sharangan Maheswaran told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption on 18 September 2026 that a message from lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood saying "We have something that will kill Elliott" did not relate to work by Greenwood's firm Beckington for developer Jean Nassif. The Guardian
The message was sent in February 2020. Maheswaran gave evidence that it concerned Liberal Party factional politics, meaning rivalry between groups inside the same party, and not a paid political operation. Greenwood spelled the surname "Elliot" with one t.
Maheswaran replied that the Sydney Morning Herald was about to run a story on Liberal MP Alex Hawke that week, linked to a Labor bill to ban developers. A separate account records his reply as starting with "Your ears must be ringing. I just picked ...". The Sydney Morning Herald
Maheswaran said he and Greenwood shared a common interest in the Hawke faction of the Liberal Party. ICAC, the NSW body that investigates public sector corruption, is testing two readings of the contact: factional information-sharing, or coordination to assist Nassif.
Former NSW Liberal minister David Elliott was a member of the centre-right faction. He had opposed developments by Nassif's company Toplace. That opposition is part of the Commission's inquiry into possible motive.
The inquiry is called Operation Rosny. It is examining whether Greenwood, Charles Perrottet and Christian Ellis expected to receive $2m in prohibited donations from Nassif in exchange for political outcomes, including damage to Elliott's career. Under NSW electoral law, prohibited donations include donations from property developers.
Greenwood, Perrottet and Nassif have denied that Nassif paid for political outcomes. The Commission must therefore weigh the messages, the payment flows and the timing of political interventions.
Maheswaran's role crossed business and politics. He acted as a lawyer for Nassif and became an executive at Toplace in September 2020. He came to know Nassif through Nassif's daughter, Ashlyn Nassif.
He said that in late 2019 he was subcontracted to do work for Toplace through the law firm EA Legal, owned by Ashlyn Nassif and Evelyn Helou. He worked through Anwalt Pty Ltd. He accepted he was the only shareholder and employee of Anwalt at the time. That corporate chain matters for how instructions, payments and legal responsibility moved between Toplace, EA Legal and Maheswaran.
Ashlyn Nassif pleaded guilty to providing false or misleading information to obtain a $150m construction loan from Westpac. She was sentenced to a six-month community corrections order, a community-based penalty. That conviction is separate from Operation Rosny but forms part of the documented history of Toplace's financing.
A second strand of the inquiry does not concern Elliott. ICAC is investigating whether Maheswaran and Labor Strathfield councillor Karen Pensabene engaged in conduct toward former mayor Matthew Blackmore involving dishonest or partial use of official functions or breach of public trust, including conduct that could involve blackmail. The investigation includes possible breaches of the Surveillance Devices Act, which controls the use of listening and tracking devices.
ICAC NSW has published public Operation Rosny transcripts for 11 August 2026, 1 September 2026, 3 September 2026, 4 September 2026 and 14 September 2026. ICAC NSW In mid-August 2026 the inquiry was described as nearing its halfway mark.
Other threads remain active. Jean Nassif is under investigation over claims he made donations to NSW Liberal Party figures to help fund branch-stacking, the recruitment of members to build factional control. ABC News Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney stood aside amid the probe.
The broader context here is a collision of three regulatory systems: developer donation bans, council conduct standards, and surveillance controls. The Elliott messages test where factional gossip ends and corrupt conduct begins. The Blackmore allegations test council power at its most local level, where planning votes, mayoral contests and reputation overlap.
Looking ahead to the next hearings, the Commission will likely press on what the words meant at the time in February 2020. What Greenwood meant by kill in a political sense. What Maheswaran did after receiving it. And whether any payment, promise or instruction linked either man to Nassif's interests at that point. The answers will determine whether Operation Rosny leads to findings about prohibited donations, local government misconduct, or both.
