A former Labor councillor, Sharangan Maheswaran, denied that a message he received from lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood about damaging the reputation of NSW Liberal minister David Elliott was related to political work for fugitive property developer Jean Nassif, an inquiry has heard. Maheswaran told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) that the message, which stated, "We have something that will kill Elliott," did not pertain to work by Greenwood's company Beckington for Nassif. Icac is investigating whether Maheswaran and fellow Labor Strathfield councillor Karen Pensabene engaged in conduct involving the dishonest or partial exercise of their official functions and/or a breach of public trust, including conduct that could involve blackmail. Maheswaran has denied any wrongdoing. Maheswaran, who is no longer a councillor, was a lawyer to property developer Nassif and became an executive at his company, Toplace, in September 2020. He has also denied wrongdoing in relation to a separate allegation under investigation by Icac. Icac is examining whether Liberal figures Greenwood, Charles Perrottet, and Christian Ellis anticipated receiving $2 million in prohibited donations from Nassif in exchange for political outcomes, including damage to the career of former NSW Liberal minister and centre-right faction member David Elliott, who had opposed Toplace developments. Greenwood, Perrottet, and Nassif have denied that Nassif paid for political outcomes. Maheswaran was shown a message Greenwood wrote to him in February 2020 in which he said, "We have something that will kill Elliot." Maheswaran replied, "Your ears must be ringing. I just picked up the phone to let you know that I've got something decent, and the SMH [Sydney Morning Herald] is going to fire up re [centre-right Liberal MP Alex] Hawke this week off the back of an ALP bill to ban developers." Maheswaran said he "had a common interest with Mr Greenwood in relation to the Hawke faction of the Liberal party," but rejected the suggestion the messages related to work by Beckington for Nassif. The inquiry heard that Maheswaran came to know Nassif through his daughter Ashlyn Nassif, who was sentenced to a six-month community corrections order earlier this month after pleading guilty to providing false or misleading information to obtain a $150 million construction loan from Westpac. Maheswaran said he was subcontracted to do work for Toplace through Ashlyn Nassif and her sister Evelyn Helou's law firm EA Legal in late 2019, through another company, Anwalt Pty Ltd. However, he took issue with the suggestion that he and Anwalt were one and the same. He said, "That's nonsensical from a corporation's perspective, from a commercial perspective, from any sort of understanding of contractual law, I'm sorry, Dr Dwyer, I'm speaking in terms of as I understand the world." "No problem," replied Dwyer. Under questioning, Maheswaran accepted that he was the only shareholder and employee of Anwalt at the time. Dwyer said, "So the only person doing any actual work was you, correct?" "At that point in time, yes," said Maheswaran. Maheswaran has been mentioned frequently by other witnesses and has attended the commission in person while others have given evidence. When Icac announced its public hearings, Maheswaran told Guardian Australia, "I have every confidence that my actions will be regarded by the public and by any fair tribunal to be lawful and entirely in the public interest." Greenwood has previously told the commission that Maheswaran helped him arrange a private security guard to avoid summons to a parliamentary inquiry that preceded Icac's inquiry. Greenwood said he suggested to Maheswaran that Toplace cover the cost for Jean-Claude Perrottet, younger brother of the former premier, to go to Fiji to avoid the inquiry, saying, "You know, your boss is the cause of this, so you can cover it." Dominic Perrottet is not named as a person of interest in Icac's allegations and is not accused of any wrongdoing. The inquiry continues.