"I still maintain my innocence for that," Mehajer told the court on Tuesday. The email purportedly from Dt Sgt Taylor begins with "Hi Salim" and allegedly says: "We are not inspecting the collision. The accident was given the all-clear by the NRMA". Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "Considering you have a perfect tract [sic] record with Mercedes Australia service, there should not be a long turnaround time in returning your vehicle," it later says. Mehajer was in January 2018 charged over an allegedly staged 2017 crash which saw his Mercedes AMG collide with a Mitsubishi Outlander just before he was meant to appear in court over a taxi driver assault.

He's accused of perverting the course of justice and conspiring to cheat and defraud an insurer. Mehajer has also denied those charges and on Tuesday asked why he would stage a crash to avoid court when he wouldn't get a jail sentence over the assault. The image of the email and Det 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. The 32-year-old 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 had argued he needed to be freed to prepare the appeal, but Justice Robert Allan Hulme said there was a significant prospect of him committing serious offences if released.

"Mr Mehajer has an arrogant disregard for the law of this state and there is a very significant prospect that if granted bail ... he will breach it," he said. Loading "He will blame others for the breach and deflect responsibility from himself." In a decision handed down in April, Downing Centre Local Court magistrate Beverley Schurr found Mehajer engaged in a "joint criminal enterprise" with his younger sister Fatima to rig the September 2012 Auburn election.

Ms Schurr said the pair exchanged "numerous" incriminating text messages on July 30, 2012, shortly before the close of the electoral roll. Their tactics included enrolling a number of voters in the Auburn electorate who in fact lived outside its boundaries. The election marked the beginning of an ignominious six years in the public spotlight for Mehajer, who is facing separate charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and perverting the course of justice over an allegedly staged car crash that prevented him from attending the first day of an assault trial in October last year. Fatima Mehajer was given a two-month suspended jail sentence. Credit:Janie Barrett Fatima Mehajer, who also ran for election to Auburn Council at the 2012 poll, was due to stand trial with her brother in June last year but she pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial to 77 counts of giving false or misleading information to the Australian Electoral Commission. Her sentencing was delayed until after the conclusion of her brother's trial on more than 100 counts of electoral fraud. In June, she was given a suspended two-month jail sentence and a $500 good behaviour bond.

Ms Schurr said Fatima Mehajer stood as a candidate "unwillingly and at the direction of her brother" and she was under pressure by virtue of her "position in the family hierarchy". "I am satisfied that in 2012 the family dynamic was centred around Salim Mehajer," Ms Schurr said.

"Given Ms Mehajer’s position in the family hierarchy, I am satisfied that that lessens her criminal culpability." The court heard Fatima Mehajer told a consulting psychologist, who prepared a report for the court: "In the past it was all 'Team Salim' ... there was 'Team Salim' pressure from my family ... I want to own what I did and it can’t be all about him anymore." AAP, Fairfax Media