Salim Mehajer chooses not to appear at court to face electoral fraud charges

THE colourful deputy mayor, who is currently suspended while his council faces oblivion, chose not to turn up to court this morning.

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CONTROVERSIAL Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has chosen not to appear in a Sydney court this morning to face charges of electoral fraud.

Mr Mehajer, who is currently suspended from his western Sydney local authority, was excused from appearing in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney’s CBD on Tuesday for a first mention of allegations he forged documents to rig the 2012 Auburn Council elections.

Mr Mehajer intends to plead not guilty to allegations he used dozens of forged voter forms in his election win, a court has heard.

His sister Fatima, brother-in-law James Elkheir and four associates were also charged and have indicated intentions to plead not guilty. They also did not appear in court.

It’s alleged the Mehajers used 76 forged electoral enrolment forms in the lead-up to the 2012 council elections, in which both were candidates.

Five associates who also ran in the ballot — within two separate candidate groups headed by the Mehajer siblings — are also charged over allegations they falsely claimed to live in Auburn.

Being group heads allowed the Mehajers to be listed above the line on the election ballot paper.

Just one of the eight charged, 29-year-old Shi Lao, turned up to court.

The case was adjourned until March 29.

Salim Mehajer’s lawyer Phillip Green leaving Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court today.

The court no-show comes the day after a Channel 7 news report claimed cars belonging to either Mr Mehajer or his company, and registered to his home address, had been pinged in a series of speeding incidents.

But according to a statutory declaration the man driving on each occasion was recent accounting graduate Abdel Razzak, who is currently on a bridging visa.

However Mr Razzak, 24, denies having ever met Mr Mehajer or driving any of his luxury vehicles.

“Only I know him like everyone after his wedding, he has a big wedding here, after his wedding everyone started knowing him,” Mr Razzak told Channel 7.

As a result of the penalty notices slapped on Mr Razzak, he racked up 11 demerit points and had his international driving privileges revoked — an action he is challenging in court.

While Mr Mehajer’s lawyer Ramy Qutami said he had not been instructed to make a formal comment, he told the Daily Telegraph that the claims were based on “false information” and ones his client denied.

Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer arriving at an emergency council meeting at Auburn City Council last week after the state Government announced an inquiry into its councillors. Picture: Jonathan Ng

STOOD DOWN FROM PUBLIC OFFICE

It’s been a horror few days for the Auburn deputy mayor who last week was suspended for four months for failing to declare all of his financial interests.

With his embattled council just days away from possibly being suspended amid a public inquiry into allegations of councillors misusing their positions and the NSW Government pushing ahead with plans to merge the local authority out of existence, Mr Mehajer may not have a deputy mayoral position to return to once he completes his time out.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Friday found Mr Mehajer breached pecuniary interest laws on three separate occasions between November 2012 and December 2013.

The tribunal heard Mr Mehajer was present at three council meetings which discussed a proposal to increase the height and floor space for a commercial building his company owned in Auburn.

Mr Mehajer failed to disclose his interest in the building, and voted in favour of the proposal, which added up to $1 million to the property’s value.

“The breaches were extremely serious as the pecuniary interest was high,” tribunal principal member David Patten said.

He said the tribunal had previously found Mr Mehajer had committed other financial disclosure breaches about the same time. “For that reason I treat these breaches as no more than another demonstration of the hubris which Mr Mehajer exhibited upon entering his role as a councillor,” Mr Patten said.

In handing down his ruling, Mr Patten accepted the councillor did not “intentionally commit breaches” of the Local Government Act and a disqualification was not required.

Mr Mehajer told the tribunal he did not properly understand his disclosure requirements and regretted not taking more care.

In a statement to AAP, the flamboyant councillor said he would appeal the tribunal decision.

“The only persons affected by this suspension are the community,” he said.

“An appeal and stay will be underway for the sake of my constituents.”

- with AAP