Judge slams Mehajer in bankruptcy case

Controversial businessman Salim Mehajer has been slammed for trying to have his bankruptcy annulment case adjourned ‘at the eleventh hour’.

The 32-year-old, whose debts include an $8.6 million tax bill, applied in the Federal Court to have the two-day hearing delayed before his local court electoral fraud sentencing on Friday.

‘This isn’t a suburban golf club where fixtures are changed at the whim of participants,’ Justice Michael Lee said Thursday.

A federal court judge rebuked disgraced Sydney businessman Salim Mehajer (pictured) 

Justice Michael Lee slammed Mehajer (pictured) at the Federal Court on Thursday for trying to delay bankruptcy annulment case so late

Justice Michael Lee slammed Mehajer (pictured) at the Federal Court on Thursday for trying to delay bankruptcy annulment case so late

The 32-year-old former deputy mayor applied to delay the two-day hearing before his local court electoral fraud sentencing due on Friday 

The 32-year-old former deputy mayor applied to delay the two-day hearing before his local court electoral fraud sentencing due on Friday 

The court heard Mehajer’s newly employed lawyer had also been served with a 400-page affidavit the previous day.

‘Why is it that at the eleventh hour, at one minute to midnight, he is determined to change his legal representatives?’ Justice Lee asked.

‘There’s not a jot or a tittle of evidence in the affidavit as to why steps weren’t taken to fit the timetable.’

'Why is it that at the eleventh hour, at one minute to midnight, he is determined to change his legal representatives?' Justice Lee asked of Mehajer's late request for his bankruptcy annulment case to be adjourned

‘Why is it that at the eleventh hour, at one minute to midnight, he is determined to change his legal representatives?’ Justice Lee asked of Mehajer’s late request for his bankruptcy annulment case to be adjourned

The former Auburn deputy mayor was declared bankrupt by a Federal Circuit Court judge in March while in jail.

He was subsequently granted bail in early April over claims he staged a car crash last year and defrauded an insurance company.

He then announced on social media platform Instagram he’d lodged an application to ‘set aside this joke’ claiming ‘only God can bankrupt me’.

Justice Lee in April refused to grant Mehajer’s application for an interim order to ‘stay’ the bankruptcy, after which he hoped to apply for a new builder’s licence, continue the construction of five multi-million dollar projects and obtain offshore finance requiring his personal guarantees.

He was declared bankrupt by a Federal Circuit Court judge in March while in jail

He was declared bankrupt by a Federal Circuit Court judge in March while in jail

Justice Lee is due to rule on the adjournment application later on Thursday

Justice Lee is due to rule on the adjournment application later on Thursday

At the time, Justice Lee agreed it may be ‘an apposite description’ to say Mehajer’s plans were ‘panglossian’ meaning ‘extreme optimism in circumstances of unrelieved adversity’.

Mehajer’s previous lawyer, David Hume, earlier gave the judge a brief rundown on the embattled businessman’s numerous and ‘perhaps notorious’ civil and criminal court proceedings, saying he’d been a party in more than 10 cases.

Justice Lee is due to rule on the adjournment application later on Thursday.  

 



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