A lobbyist being investigated by the state’s corruption watchdog has admitted ordering the creation of a “shit sheet” targeting a Liberal cabinet minister and says he knew the document contained false claims the politician was having an affair.

Jeremy Greenwood described the dossier as a “defensive move” and claimed he was entitled to attack then-police minister David Elliott because there had been “relentless leaks to the media” about himself and his business partner, Christian Ellis.

The document is a key element of the ICAC’s investigation into allegations Greenwood and other members of a sub-faction of Christian conservatives known as the Reformers were doing the bidding of fugitive developer Jean Nassif, who loathed Elliott and his criticism of substandard Toplace building projects.

Elliott’s membership of the Liberal Party’s centre-right faction also put him in fierce competition with the Reformers, who sat on the hard right of the party.

The dirt file contained an allegation Elliott was having an affair – something Greenwood admitted on Tuesday he knew was false at the time he was given the document.

“I’m allowed to defend myself if I’m having a similar shit sheet about me thrown around,” Greenwood told the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Tuesday.

A stunned Commissioner Fabian Gleeson, SC, asked the lobbyist and former political staffer: “You mean to suggest … that it’s perfectly proper behaviour by a lobbyist to prepare a document which you call a shit sheet on a politician?”

Greenwood replied: “I’m a private citizen as well.”

Invited by Gleeson to comment on whether lobbyists should be governed by rules preventing the smearing of politicians, Greenwood said he did not think they should.

“And that’s a considered view of a 37-year-old who’s been engaged in this business for how many years?” Gleeson shot back.

Counsel assisting the commission Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, said any attempt to damage Elliott would also advance the interests of Nassif, who was a client of Greenwood’s consultancy firm Beckington.

The ICAC alleges Greenwood, Ellis and another member of the Reformers, Charles Perrottet, were to receive a $2 million bribe by Nassif to further his business interests in Sydney.

Greenwood finished the second day of a tetchy appearance in the witness box on Tuesday but will return on Wednesday, and potentially in coming weeks, to face questions over the $2 million bribe claim.

Dallas McInerney, the powerful head of Catholic Schools NSW, is scheduled to give evidence on Wednesday and Thursday about a separate alleged plot to bankroll a branch-stacking operation devised by the Reformers.

He is expected to be questioned on what the ICAC believes are sham invoices paid by Catholic Schools NSW over several years to support the work of the Reformers.

In a critical moment for the Liberal Party, McInerney will also likely be asked about bombshell claims his close friend and factional ally Opposition Leader Angus Taylor once agreed to fund the Reformers with a $15,000 cash injection, followed by $3000 monthly payments. Taylor has repeatedly denied the payments were made but the ICAC has continued to ask about the matter.

The Catholic schools sector in NSW receives about $3.8 billion in state and federal funding each year.

Greenwood, one of the men accused of being involved in the scheme to wash Catholic Schools NSW funds, claimed on Tuesday he had no knowledge of how the money was used.

His blunt answers and inability to recall important events prompted a strong rebuke from Gleeson, who accused the former political operative of “deflecting and not answering” direct questions.

At another point Gleeson ordered Greenwood to “open your mind” and “not just instantly reject any question that’s put to you [by saying] that you don’t know, or you don’t care, or you weren’t interested, or you weren’t aware”.

Asked about an invoice sent from Beckington to Catholic Schools NSW in 2020, the one-time political operative conceded the person who sent the email, “Jessica”, was a fake name made up by his business partner Christian Ellis.

“He just thought it was funny,” Greenwood said.

Dwyer, the counsel assisting, replied: “I’m not getting the joke.”

Payments from Catholic Schools NSW to Greenwood’s companies, Beckington and JPG Advisory, form a central plank of the ICAC’s claim that sham invoices were used to support the Reformers’ work in stacking branches with more conservative members.

Catholic Schools NSW ultimately paid Beckington $130,900 between 2019 and 2021. It also paid JPG $135,000 between 2021 and 2023.

“The commission has found no evidence of services being undertaken by Beckington for Catholic Schools NSW between August 2019 and August 2021,” Dwyer said.

Greenwood responded: “A lot of work was done verbally, in person in the office. I just can’t recall it. I know it was happening.”

The inquiry continues.

Further reading

Here are some of the highlights of our ICAC coverage.

• Inside Operation Rosny:- a collection of all our articles in one place