Salim Mehajer’s message from prison: ‘Only God can bankrupt me’
SALIM Mehajer has hit out at a court decision from behind bars saying a ruling that saw him declared bankrupt felt like a “coward punch”.
THERE was a moment it appeared Australia would get some time out from Salim Mehajer and his antics as he went to prison - but it was not to be.
The controversial former mayor won’t be silenced and has reached out to the public from behind bars after yesterday being declared bankrupt by a Federal Circuit Court judge after one of his companies failed to pay a debt of over $200,000.
Mehajer today responded to the reports from prison in a post on his Snapchat account, in which he signed off with his initials.
“Filing for bankruptcy in my absence felt like the ‘coward punch’,” Mehajer wrote.
“God willing, I’ll be out in 7 days, When out, I promise to set it aside like it never existed. Only God can bankrupt me!”
The former Auburn deputy mayor was served a bankruptcy notice in November last year, after he failed to pay the costs for a lavish staircase that was built in his home.
The order means the estate of the former Auburn deputy mayor will be managed by a trustee who will take control of his property and financial affairs and deal with his creditors.
THE STAIRCASE THAT BROUGHT DOWN SALIM
Salim Mehajer’s extravagant marble staircase is famous in its own right.
The Persian onyx marble stairs were featured in rapper Bow Wow’s video clip Too Real, and Mehajer and his estranged wife Aysha Learmonth posed in front of them for a glossy New Idea photo spread.
Ultimately it was this staircase that took down the disgraced businessman.
Mehajer hired Prime Marble & Granite in 2014 to install the staircase and other stonework at his lavish $3 million Lidcombe property.
Mehajer received an invoice for $596,178 from the company when the work was done, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
He didn’t pay up.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Mehajer had submitted he reached an agreement with the company to issue an equivalent credit note towards a unit at his proposed residential development, as payment for the stonework.
But Mehajer failed to get approval for the property development, and the deal fell through.
The Greenacre company sued him, won its case, and Mehajer was ordered by District Court Judge Judith Gibson to pay almost $1 million; the original invoice fee, plus an additional $400,000 to cover the company’s legal costs.
Mehajer didn’t show up for the hearing, and was slammed by Judge Gibson in a written statement.
“The plaintiff constructed a marble palace in accordance with the defendant’s instructions, the exquisiteness of which is not in dispute,” she wrote, according to the Daily Telegraph.
“This is one of those rare cases where the court should make an order for indemnity costs of the proceedings, not to punish the defendant, but in response to the wholly unsatisfactory way in which the defendant has conducted the case at all relevant times.”
Mehajer never ended up paying the amount, and received a bankruptcy notice on November 3.
His barrister, Jim T Johnson, argued that the bankruptcy notice was invalid because it did not attach relevant documents, Fairfax Media reported.
Judge Justin Smith rejected his lawyer’s argument that the bankruptcy notice was invalid, and ordered Mehajer to pay Prime Marble & Granite Pty Ltd’s legal costs of $21,024.
Mehajer is currently in prison, where he awaits trial after he was charged with allegedly staging a car crash in October last year to avoid a court appearance.
Earlier this month, he told the court his life was “an absolute mess”, saying he “didn’t deserve to be” in prison.
“I am here between four walls and letting everything collapse ... this is going to be a catastrophe,” he said.
Earlier this month, the disgraced businessman was placed on a good behaviour bond for assaulting a taxi driver with an EFTPOS machine last April.
In February, he was found guilty of assaulting a television reporter when he slammed his car door on her arm.
— with AAP
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