ASIC declares Salim Mehajer ‘incompetent’, imposes three-year ban on managing corporations

SALIM Mehajer has been banned from running companies by the corporate regulator after an inquiry found him “incompetent”.

CONTROVERSIAL former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has copped a three-year ban from managing corporations following a ruling by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) this morning.

The corporate regulator made the decision to protect the public from his “incompetence” after finding Mr Mehajer’s business conduct “lacked commercial reality”.

In a bizarre twist revealed by The Australian, ASIC revealed it had actually imposed the ban in November last year but that Mr Mehajer had appealed the decision and also successfully obtained court orders suppressing disclosure of the banning order.

On August 19, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal upheld ASIC’s decision to disqualify Mr Mehajer and found the property developer had “adopted a cavalier approach” to managing two of his failed companies.

The paper named those companies as SM Property Developments and SM Engineering and Constructions, which it said owed more than $1 million to the Australian Taxation Office as well as money to other creditors.

Mr Mehajer’s business ban comes just as he launches his new skincare range. Source: Instagram

The AAT decision upholding ASIC’s order was itself subject to a suppression order, which expired midnight last Friday night, thereby enabling the matter to be reported.

It is unclear if the lifting of the suppression order was behind Mr Mehajer’s announcement at the weekend that he planned to temporarily flee Australia.

The whole of Auburn Council was sacked in February ahead of the ASIC inquiry after questions were raised about inappropriate relationships between property developers and councillors.

ASIC found Mr Mehajer’s “inability to manage corporations to the standard expected of him” caused the two property development companies to collapse.

He had failed to ensure SM Project Developments “maintained adequate financial records” and to ensure it lodged legally required returns with the ATO, and only provided required information to the company’s liquidator “after ASIC took criminal proceedings against him”.

“ASIC also found Mr Mehajer’s conduct lacked commercial morality in that he allowed SMPD to collect GST of $315,192 from the sale of townhouses but failed to remit it to the ATO,” the regulator said in a statement.

On Saturday, the flamboyant former councillor posted a cryptic farewell on Instagram featuring a ship on Sydney Harbour accompanied with the caption “Goodbye Australia”.

“Will be taking off to pursue my dream challenges,” Mr Mahajer wrote, along with the words “I’ll be back”.

‘Goodbye Australia.’ Source: Instagram

Salim Mehajer at his sister Kat Mehajer’s wedding last weekend. Picture: Instagram

It marks the start of another bad week for Mr Mehajer after a scandalous couple of months.

He has just launched his own skin care range and the apprehended violence order relating to his estranged wife Aysha is due back in court on Thursday.

Disturbing video footage of him screaming at Aysha and threatening to rape her parents was aired on A Current Affair last month.

“Aysha, you’ve got five minutes to give me a call! Give me a call in five minutes … I’m gonna rape your mum and your f***ing dad! Call me now!” he says in the video. “Aysha, I hope you die, you sl*t.

“I swear on the Koran, I swear on God, I’m not leaving today.

“And I hope you die, you f***ing sl*t. You f***ed 12 guys, you sl*t. You f***ed 12 guys. You f***ing sl*t. You f***ing sl*t.”

Police at the time said they were investigating the videos.