Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer charged with electoral fraud

Auburn's headline-making deputy mayor Salim Mehajer will face a Sydney court in February charged with electoral fraud.

Salim Mehajer

Salim Mehajer Source: AAP

Controversial deputy mayor Salim Mehajer could face up to 10 years in jail after being charged with forging documents to rig the 2012 Auburn Council ballot.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed on Sunday it had served court attendance notices to eight Sydney people for electoral fraud offences, after a referral from the Australian Electoral Commission in August 2012.

The AFP has charged Mr Mehajer, along with his sister Fatima, brother-in-law Jamal Elkheir and five others who ran as candidates in the council poll.

Mr Mehajer, 29, and Fatima, 25, have been charged with using forged documents and producing a false or misleading document, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

While Fatima Kandil, Jamal Elkheir, Ahmad Trad, Abhinav Mehta, Arjun Mehta and Shi Lao have also been charged with producing a false or misleading document, for which the maximum penalty is two years imprisonment.

All eight are set to face Sydney's Downing Centre court in February.

Mr Mehajer first made headlines in August for his show-stopping, lavish wedding in western Sydney and has since resisted repeated calls from fellow councillors to resign as deputy mayor.

Mr Mehajer has denied the allegations.  

He learnt on Friday that his council role will cease to exist when Auburn merges with Holroyd Council under government plans to cut 43 Sydney councils down to 25.

Not that it worries the man who has said he wants to one day be prime minister.

"I have my positive mind set. Despite the change, I believe the outcome will be great," he told AAP.

"The mind is a powerful tool when you fill it with positive things."


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Source: AAP



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