Flamboyant Sydney developer Salim Mehajer has been banned from managing corporations for three years, with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal upholding an ASIC ban for his "cavalier approach".
The AAT upheld in August the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's decision last November to disqualify Mr Mehajer from managing corporations for three years, as there was a "need for such a disqualification in the public interest as a means of protecting others from his incompetence".
Mr Mehajer had appealed the ASIC ban to the AAT and obtained a suppression order on the proceedings. The suppression order expired last Friday.
Mr Mehajer has been banned until November 5, 2018 after ASIC found his "inability to manage corporations to the standard expected of him" led to SM Property Development and SM Engineering and Constructions failing, owing $886,701 and $159,9026 respectively to the Australian Taxation Office.
ASIC also found Mr Mehajer's conduct lacked "commercial morality" in that he allowed SM Property Development to collect $315,192 in GST from the sale of townhouses that was then not paid the tax office.
The AAT also found that Mr Mehajer "adopted a cavalier approach to his management of the companies, which included their responsibility to creditors, and his duties to ensure that the companies met their legal obligations," ASIC said in a statement on Monday.
