John Cassidy, former chancellor of the University of New England is being grilled by counsel before the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
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He is one of 19 witnesses appearing before the commission over allegations he acquired inside information about the sale of the Tattersalls Hotel in the Beardy Street Mall while he was chancellor and used it to benefit himself and business associate Darrell Hendry in the tender.
Mr Cassidy says he can't recall being told if tenders were "at least" above the minimum valuation for the hotel.
He first heard Mr Hendry was submitting a tender to buy the hotel on November 28, 2005 and even then it was through a third party.
He also couldn't recall whether he'd seen the unit trust or trustee documents relating to the sale.
Indeed, Mr Cassidy couldn't recall leaking any information about the hotel's sale.
Yesterday, Mr Hendry told the commission he and Mr Cassidy were rethinking their $5 million revamp of the hotel.
He said the pair were looking at “a much cut-down version of what the original [development application] was about” after assessing their return on the investment.
Tattersalls Hotel has languished ever since it was bought by Mr Hendry and Mr Cassidy for $2.65 million in 2006.
Council passed a development application for a revamp of the building in 2009.
The plans included an outdoor eating area, car-parking at the rear and extra accommodation upstairs.
But only cursory work has been done since.
The inquiry continues.