A Sydney mayor was allegedly threatened, harassed and his children secretly recorded after he refused to honor his resignation agreement, a NSW corruption watchdog has heard.
Former independent Strathfield Council mayor Matthew Blackmore led the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation, codenamed Operation Rosney.
The inquiry is looking into allegations made against former Labor Party councilors Sharangana Maheswaran and Karen Pensabene, including whether they were involved in blackmail or possible surveillance of Blackmore.
Blackmore had initially agreed to share the mayoralty in 2022, so he would hold the position first and then step down to allow a Labor councillor, who was expected to be Pensabene, to complete his term, he told the commission.
Maheswaran wanted to secure Labor leadership at council, state and federal levels ahead of the 2023 state elections to support campaign efforts, Ikak heard.
But in January 2023, Blackmore told two Labor councilors he wanted to remain as mayor, leaving them worried and upset, he said.
Maheswaran allegedly told Blackmore: “What you have to understand, Matthew… I have a reputation in the party that if I don’t like someone, they can’t get away with contradicting me. It will take me about six weeks to destroy you.”
Blackmore replied that he could be “fucked.”
Blackmore told the commission that his wife took a photograph of Maheswaran’s car on the street outside their home, which was next to the brothel.
When asked if he knew that the photo could be used for his political purposes, he said he only wanted to check whether the license plate belonged to Maheswaran.
Blackmore saw the car in front of his house several times and was “a little scared about whether it was following my house,” he told the commission.
Pensabene later wrote to Blackmore to warn him that Maheswaran was “out of control” and said he had printed 20,000 attack leaflets.
One of the fliers, which Blackmore called a “crap sheet,” remained in the former mayor’s car, and Pensabene warned him that “it’s still less than 10% of what’s to come.”
At a later meeting, Maheswaran told Blackmore that operatives had been following him for five months, photographing and recording his conversations without his knowledge, Blackmore said.
Blackmore took this to mean that they would continue to publish articles in the media unless he resigned as mayor.
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Soon after, he began receiving requests from journalists working for News Corp and YouTuber FriendlyJordies.
According to Blackmore’s statement, Maheswaran told him: “This will all go away when you step down as mayor. It will stop. You will not be harassed in any way as long as you agree with us to do this.”
Maheswaran also stated that Blackmore used the City Hall vehicle to go on a family vacation and told him the location of the vacation.
“The holiday was one of the worst because we weren’t actually planning on going and our plans changed at the last minute, so no one knew where I was going,” Blackmore said.
The whole situation changed his sense of personal security.
“I can’t sleep without making sure my house is locked,” Blackmore said.
In a message to Pensabene, he wrote: “I am sick of my children being spied on. [sic] secret people of Sharangan.”
Maheswaran is scheduled to appear in Ichak on Friday.