A Sydney home builder hinted he could make his problems with a council disappear for $200,000 before he was threatened with being disappeared himself, an inquiry into Auburn Council has heard.
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In a day of explosive, tortuous and highly contested testimony into planning decisions at the council, businessman Warren Jack said he had been threatened with what he interpreted as murder in a conversation with former councillor Ned Attie.
"Ned mentioned that a chap by the name of Zod would be knocking at my door," Mr Jack said, in remarks he interpreted as an implied threat of murder. "He [Mr Attie] is very smart, in the way he gives those threats."
But in a stinging cross-examination Mr Attie's counsel, top Sydney silk Geoffrey Watson, reminded Mr Jack he continued to socialise with his client after the claimed threat including sitting down to breakfast.
"I realised at that breakfast that he was the one orchestrating this," Mr Jack said.
But Mr Watson questioned the reliability of Mr Jack's recall and record of events: "I'm going to put to you that you're telling a lie."
Earlier the inquiry heard Mr Jack, who was converting an old Salvation Army hall on Lidcombe's Henry Street into a three-bedroom house, ran into legal trouble with the council about his plans and later sought advice from Mr Attie.
The inquiry was told that during a meeting with council staff, Mr Jack "waved around" a phone on speaker and bearing the name "Ned".
Later, when confronted with suggestions he had breached planning controls by building his home, a member of council staff suggested that Mr Jack hinted he could "sort" the problems for $200,000.
"I thought [that] seemed like an exorbitant amount to get a couple of rooms and illegal building works sorted out," said council staffer Jason Mooney. "I thought it was fanciful ... I thought 'c'mon', but I was [also] concerned."
A note was made on the council's files but the matter was not referred to the ICAC.
All nine councillors – including deputy mayor Salim Mehajer – were sacked in February, and the Auburn local government area was folded into Parramatta Council and the newly formed Cumberland Council.
Mr Jack alleged that he knew "sorting" his local government problems would come at a hefty cost because Mr Attie had told him that councillors' support came at a price, and that he concluded Mr Attie was "trying to extort money from me".
"He told me that [another councillor] Hicham Zraika needs $500,000 to approve anything," he said.
Mr Watson rejected that claim as a "desperate and deliberate lie" and that Mr Jack had made up a series of lies.
Mr Watson suggested that Mr Jack had been told something perfectly innocent by Mr Attie when he inquired about the cost of fixing problems with his house.
"Mr Attie said: You won't get much change out of $200,000 between architects, engineers … flood evacuation plans, consultants, other planners and then legal costs," Mr Watson said.
Mr Jack denied this account and all suggestions that he was lying. He said he did not believe the claim that Mr Zraika's vote could be bought and that he thought he was a "nice guy".
Mr Jack was later fined $50,000 for the illegal works.
