What a Private Investigator's Testimony Reveals About Operation Rosny
Shane de Kauwe told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on 22 September 2026 that he carried out surveillance on former NSW Liberal MP David Elliott. The Guardian ICAC is the state's anti-corruption watchdog.
He said he acted on instructions from Sharangan Maheswaran, a lawyer and executive for developer Toplace. In 2022, he fixed a static camera to a building to record a person connected to Elliott. He billed Toplace $15,000 for installing the camera to capture a woman's car. Think of the invoices like receipts, showing who paid for what job.
De Kauwe also said he supplied hidden recording devices to Maheswaran, developer Jean Nassif and Jeremy Greenwood. He said Nassif needed a second device because he could not operate the first one.
He said Nassif asked for surveillance of Elliott, former building commissioner David Chandler and Ray Hadley after Nassif left Australia for Lebanon in 2022. In a separate job, de Kauwe accepted he billed Maheswaran $13,400 for six days of surveillance of Chandler in 2021. Chandler led the state's building regulator. De Kauwe is a former Australian Federal Police officer who now works as a private investigator. The Sydney Morning Herald He was also asked to watch Matthew Blackmore. ICAC's Operation Rosny connections document lists de Kauwe as a private investigator, Nassif as a property developer and Elliot as former member for Baulkham.
ICAC is examining an allegation that Christian Ellis, Jeremy Greenwood and Charles Perrottet accepted $2 million in illegal donations from Nassif or Toplace in return for political outcomes. Elliott and Chandler are not accused of wrongdoing in that investigation. A separate strand concerns an alleged extortion attempt against Nassif. De Kauwe said he told police about the alleged attempt. He said he advised Nassif and Maheswaran, who is Nassif's lawyer, to report the allegations to police, but Nassif did not want to complain.
Earlier documents set out background on the relationships. A 9 September 2026 Operation Rosny transcript includes the assertion that Nassif viewed Alex Hawke and David Elliott as corrupt. An 11 August 2026 transcript records counsel Ms Dwyer asking what interest Nassif or Toplace had connected to Hills Council in June 2021. A 3 September 2026 transcript refers to a recording between Nassif and Jean-Claude Perrottet on 1 September 2021. ICAC Elliott has given evidence in the Operation Rosny hearings. Another former NSW MP allegedly targeted by Nassif also gave evidence in August.
The broader context here is the gap between the two lines of inquiry. The donations case focuses on money, go-betweens and political outcomes. The surveillance accounts focus on private spying methods used against politicians, a regulator and a media figure. Hidden cameras and recorders do not by themselves show an illegal donations offence. They could shed light on motive, pressure or knowledge. That connection still needs to be shown on the record. What happens next depends on how counsel links the instructions, invoices and devices to the political outcomes listed in the terms of reference.
