Emergency workers attend the scene of the crash on Monday. Credit:ABC NEWS Last week, it was to reach a crescendo: Mr Mehajer was facing two criminal trials over three days, for allegedly assaulting a taxi driver and a journalist within the space of eight hours on April 2. He was also expected to appear, either in person or via a lawyer, in two commercial disputes – the latest in a string of cases that have clogged the courts since his lavish but ill-fated wedding in 2015. Those pressing legal battles hit a roadblock on Monday when Mr Mehajer was involved in a car accident as he drove to the Downing Centre Local Court in his white Mercedes SUV. Footage emerged of Mr Mehajer in a neck brace being taken to Westmead Hospital. The court heard he was given morphine and discharged later that day.

An Instagram post from Salim Mehajer on Sunday 15 October Credit:Instagram Mr Mehajer's criminal trials have now been postponed until next year. In the aftermath of the crash, reports emerged that Mr Mehajer or companies linked to him had made a series of insurance claims for car accidents in recent years, including two crashes last year that were "strikingly similar" to Monday's incident. Channel Seven reported that an insurance assessment review found the vehicles in the two crashes last year were "likely stationary when struck". NSW Police confirmed it had "recently received referrals relating to reports of fraudulent insurance claims" and "investigations into these matters are now under way".

Those investigations are not related to Monday's crash and police are continuing separate investigations into that incident. A spokesman for Mr Mehajer's companies said any suggestion that Monday's crash was staged was "ludicrous", "evil" and "irrational". "For those to make such remarks reflect a sheer evil persona," the spokesman said in an email to Fairfax Media. "For anyone to place their life at risk to stage an accident will reflect un human like [sic] character. In particular, the person at fault had her son present with her. Such ludicrous and absurd remarks only reflect the evil persona of any person alleging such irrational allegations." As to previous insurance claims, the spokesman said Mr Mehajer's companies were "involved in a business which offers self-drive hiring".

"It is of the ordinary to see multiple claims (even [for] very minute damage) to go through insurance for a business of such operation," the spokesman said. Mr Mehajer's electoral fraud trial, which has raised the most serious allegations against him, resumes in the Local Court on December 13 when the prosecution and defence are expected to deliver their closing addresses to magistrate Beverley Schurr. Mr Mehajer's sister Fatima was to stand trial with her brother but she pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial on June 15 to 77 counts of giving false or misleading information to the Australian Electoral Commission. She will be sentenced after her brother's trial has concluded. Mr Mehajer, who was elected to Auburn Council in September 2012 and later elevated to the deputy mayoralty, has pleaded not guilty to more than 100 offences related to the alleged rigging of the election that catapulted him into public office.

On the first day of that trial, prosecutor Jeremy Rapke, QC, told the court Mr Mehajer had "engaged in acts of electoral fraud designed to enhance his chances of winning the election". Mr Rapke said text messages between Mr Mehajer and his sister revealed their plan to submit false voter enrolment forms to bolster their chances. The court heard the siblings set up two groups to contest the election in each of Auburn Council's two wards. Mr Mehajer was the lead candidate in one group and his sister in the other. Mr Mehajer will stand trial for assault on January 31, and again on February 19.