Politics

Disgraced deputy mayor Salim Mehajer jailed for electoral fraud

Jun 22, 2018

The former deputy mayor will spend at least 11-months behind bars. Source: Instagram/salim.mehajer.

Disgraced deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has been sentenced to a maximum of 21-months in prison after he was found guilty of electoral fraud.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the 32-year-old former Auburn deputy mayor will spend at least 11-months behind bars, following sentencing at the Downing Centre Local Court on Friday.

Back in April, Mehajer was found guilty on more than 100 counts of electoral fraud, after it was revealed that he, along with his sister Fatima, 28, had rigged a local government election six years ago which propelled him into public office.

This meant that he unlawfully earned his way into public office, with the court finding a number of incriminating text messages between the siblings a short time before the polls closed. Their actions have been described as a “joint criminal enterprise” and the reason why he was able to influence the Auburn Council elections in the first place.

Handing down her decision today, Local Court Magistrate Beverley Schurr sentenced the property developer to a maximum of 21 months behind bars with a non-parole period of 11 months.

Fatima Mehajer, who also ran for election to Auburn Council at the 2012 poll, was due to stand trial with her brother in June last year but she pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial to 77 counts of giving false or misleading information to the Australian Electoral Commission.

Her sentencing was delayed until after her brother’s trial had concluded and on Friday she was given a suspended two-month jail sentence and a $500 good behaviour bond.

Schurr said Fatima Mehajer stood as a candidate “unwillingly and at the direction of her brother” and she was under pressure by virtue of her “position in the family hierarchy”. She said: “I am satisfied that in 2012 the family dynamic was centred around Salim Mehajer. Given Ms Mehajer’s position in the family hierarchy, I am satisfied that that lessens her criminal culpability.”

Mehajer’s election in 2012 sparked a shocking chain of events for the former public official, who is believed to be facing separate charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and perverting the course of justice over an allegedly staged car crash, which prevented him attending the first day of an assault trial in October last year.

News.com.au also previously reported that Mehajer, who recently unveiled new girlfriend Missy Tysoe, has been charged with intimidating his ex-wife Aysha Learmonth after allegedly sending her hundreds of messages.

In addition to his trouble with the law, Mehajer also made headlines thanks to his over-the-top wedding in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe in 2015. Along with his now ex-wife, Learmonth, Mehajer arrived at his ceremony in a helicopter and informed every single person on the bustling Frances Street to park their cars in garages so his fleet of Rolls Royces, Ferraris and Harley Davidsons could make their way to his lavish mansion.

Mehajer left notes in letter boxes explaining that cars would be towed at the cost of the owner if anyone failed to obliged. It was later found that the council didn’t have permission to shut the street down, with local residents becoming furious by the antics.

The former property developer has already spent time in jail and has been previously charged on drug and assault charges, as well as being disqualified from managing corporations. He was forced to suspended as deputy mayor in 2016 and was charged with fraud last year.