After being found guilty of being part of an electoral fraud plot, controversial Sydney businessman Salim Mehajer wrote he had 'HUGE' confidence in the justice system and would be appealing.
Magistrate Beverley Schurr had concluded the 31-year-old took part in a "joint criminal enterprise" with his sister Fatima to influence the 2012 Auburn City Council election.
She was satisfied the now-bankrupt property developer submitted to the Australian Electoral Commission forms that gave false addresses in the Auburn area.
The Commission received an unusual number of online applications on July 30, shortly before the close of the electoral roll.
Mehajer's 28-year-old sister, Fatima, previously pleaded guilty to 77 charges of giving false or misleading information.
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In Central Local Court on Wednesday, the magistrate said the siblings exchanged numerous incriminating text messages on July 30, 2012, shortly before the close of the electoral roll.
Salim Mehajer was the only sibling elected, having received 1366 first preference votes, and he later became Auburn deputy mayor.
He was released from jail last week after being granted bail on a charge of perverting the course of justice for the alleged staging of a car accident on his way to face court last year on assault charges.
After he was found guilty of the electoral fraud plot, Mehajer posted a press release on Instagram saying: "I have HUGE confidence in the Justice System and I am sure everything will be okay."
"I did not give evidence during trial, though I wish I did - to answer 'the Gaps'," he wrote.
"My new legal team will respectfully be appealing the decision."
The magistrate found voters named in some of the forged forms later said they were not responsible for completing or signing them.
One named person was only 17, one was not a citizen and some names were spelt incorrectly.
Receipt numbers for relevant applications were later found on Fatima Mehajer's computer, and they all came from two IP addresses connected to a Mehajer business and the family home.
The siblings will face a sentence hearing on June 14.
Meanwhile, a psychiatric report will be obtained on Mehajer, who is on a good behaviour bond for an assault.
His bail conditions for his perverting the course of justice charge including reporting to police twice daily and a $200,000 surety.
