Court hears of fake email as Mehajer bail bid denied

A NSW police officer investigating Salim Mehajer has allegedly discovered a forged email impersonating him on the jailed property developer’s phone, a court has heard.

Detective Sergeant Matt Taylor claims he was investigating allegations Mehajer staged a car crash to avoid a court hearing when he discovered the email earlier this year.

The email related to a court case involving the ATO and the Mehajer Brothers company and an image of it was sent to a third party, the police officer said in a letter read

aloud at Mehajer’s NSW Supreme Court bail hearing. The email image is under investigation and the 32-year-old hasn’t been charged.

The image of the email and Sgt Taylor’s letter to the court were tendered at Mehajer’s

unsuccessful bail application pending an appeal of his conviction and sentence over electoral fraud offences.

Mehajer (left) was jailed in June for 21 months, to be released after 11 months, after a magistrate found him guilty of 77 charges related to a joint criminal enterprise with his sister aimed at influencing the 2012 Auburn Council vote.

Mehajer argued he needed to be free to prepare the appeal, but Justice Robert Allan Hulme said there was a significant prospect of him committing offences if released.