Salim Mehajer

Salim Mehajer (born 12 June 1986)^[2] is an Australian licensed builder,^[3] property developer, disqualified corporation manager and former deputy mayor of the former Auburn City Council.^[4] He has interests in a number of property development companies.^[5]

Biography

Early life and education

Mehajer was born in Sydney, and is the third-eldest of eight children of Lebanese immigrants Amal and Mohamed Mehajer.^[2] He grew up in the Auburn area and was educated at the local primary school before attending Trinity Catholic College, Auburn for the majority of his high school years. Mehajer finished his final years at Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta and subsequently studied at Western Sydney University, graduating with a Bachelor of Housing degree^[2] in April 2010.^[6] Mehajer was featured in an advertisement in the Auburn Review, paid for by the not-for-profit Australian Community Association ^[7] of which Mehajer was President at the time, which states he also attained a Masters of Environmental Systems, Markets and Climate Change.^[8][9] However, although he enrolled in an environmental engineering course at the University of New England (UNE), a spokesperson from UNE stated that he never completed it.^[2]

Political career

Mehajer ran as an independent member of the Legislative Assembly for Auburn at the 2011 New South Wales State election. He was subsequently investigated by the Election Funding Authority of New South Wales for failing to declare electoral spending and political donations but, as he was not elected, no action was taken against him.^[10] In 2012 he was elected as an independent councillor for the City of Auburn, and was subsequently elected as deputy mayor.^[2] In 2014 the Division of Local Government conducted an investigation into Mehajer's pecuniary interests and suspended him from civic office for a month for failing to disclose his business and property interests.^[11]

Car crash

Mehajer was involved in a serious car crash on 17 January 2012 when he lost control of his Ferrari 612 Scaglietti at the crest of The Boulevarde in Lidcombe and ran over two women before colliding with a wall. The two women were rushed to Westmead Hospital where they underwent surgery for serious leg and pelvic injuries. They were released from hospital after spending a month in recovery.^[12][13][14] Mehajer was convicted of negligent driving on 23 October 2012 at Burwood Local Court where he had his license disqualified and was sentenced to 150 hours of community service by magistrate Brian Maloney. Mehajer appealed and in September 2013 the conviction was overturned.^[15] The two injured women later sued him in 2014 and Mehajer reached a settlement with them in early October 2015, agreeing to pay AUD$1.72 million which was paid by his insurers, NRMA.^[16][17]

Wedding

In 2015, Mehajer came to public prominence in Australia and overseas after his marriage to his fiance Aysha (formerly April Amelia Learmonth^[1]) was widely publicised in the media. The media focussed on Mehajer's manner of arrival, which involved flying in one of four helicopters then proceeding to the wedding in a fleet of luxury sports cars, and for his wedding video which was widely shown on media sites in Australia.^[18][19][20] He was later fined $220 for the unauthorized shutdown of Frances Street in Lidcombe and for distributing a fake flyer warning residents that their cars would be towed if they were not cleared from the street.^[21] Auburn City Council released a statement from their General Manager, Mark Brisby, clarifying that no authority had been given for a full closure on 15 August, but they had issued a road occupancy license to allow for filming between 8 am and 12 noon. The statement emphasised two way access was to be maintained at all times and that no obstruction to residents or pedestrians was to be allowed.^[22] A petition on Change.org calling for Mehajer's sacking from Auburn City Council over his wedding and other alleged wrong-doings was created in August 2015 and attracted over 4,000 signatures.^[23] In July 2016, Aysha applied for^[24] and received an apprehended violence order against Mehajer.^[25]

Intimidation charges and acquittal

Mehajer was accused of threatening personal trainer Bruce Herat in October 2015 after a disagreement at a gymnasium. Mehajer was subsequently charged with intimidation by police and had an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) taken out against him. The AVO prohibited Mehajer from entering Herat's workplace, Anytime Fitness Gym in Burwood.^[26][27] According to Herat, Mehajer used offensive and threatening language towards him.^[28] The charges were dismissed by the magistrate because the security camera had been broken in the council car park, where the alleged confrontation occurred, and he had no way of knowing for certain that Mehajer had threatened Herat. The magistrate did, however, increase the AVO that prevented Mehajer from approaching Herat by a further 12 months.^[29]

Nine News interview

In October 2015, Mehajer appeared on Nine News with his wife, and from a lectern gave an interview with a reporter. In the interview, he said "I would like to start off by being in state, federal and I'd like to make my way up to the very top spot. That would [be] my dream come true" and denied claims that he was part of a group of six councillors who were accused of banding together to push through development applications.^[30][31] Reaction to the interview ranged from it being called a "bizarre stage-managed spectacle" by The Huffington Post,^[32] to criticism from radio host Ray Hadley in an interview with the Today show's host Karl Stefanovic.^[33]

Allegations of conflict of interest

In September 2015, Mehajer faced accusations of conflict of interest in decisions made by the local council.^[34][35] The New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered Mehajer to be suspended for four months for his failure to disclose financial interests. In February 2016, the New South Wales government suspended Sydney's Auburn Council and opened a public enquiry. The appointed administrator scrapped two major developments which could benefit Mehajer.^[36]

Disqualified from managing corporations

In August 2016 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission banned Mehajer from managing any corporation for three years "as a means of protecting others from his incompetence". His failed companies owe more than one million dollars to the Australian Taxation Office. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal upheld a previous ban that was appealed by Mehajer, who also sought a suppression of the proceedings to remain out of the public eye.^[37]

References