The property developer had suggested Ms Learmonth could have used his phone to send the 5am Instagram message from his account in November 2017 - as she occasionally slept over during that time. He told Burwood Local Court she'd continued to email and message him after she moved out of the matrimonial home in 2016 and was "flirtatious" during social gatherings at his home. But Ms Learmonth previously told the court she hadn't contacted Mehajer since leaving him and the Instagram message to her new business account made her feel uneasy and unsafe. "I'd made every effort to have no contact with Salim whatsoever and having that business was the first time I'd put myself back into life basically, where he would know where I was," she said. The message congratulated Ms Learmonth on her new business and said he hoped she would one day realise the person he'd become.

The magistrate said it seemed to be a demonstration of being able to "access and influence her affairs". Ms Trad said an email which included an ABN search for the business showed a determination to remain appraised of Ms Learmonth's actions. The evidence of defence witness Mohammed Ghanem appeared contrived and didn't stand up to scrutiny, the magistrate said. Mr Ghanem told the court he'd seen Ms Learmonth twice during visits to Mehajer's Lidcombe home. He said on one occasion he arrived at the front door to see her and Mehajer "making love" on the couch. He later clarified they were "having dry sex".

The magistrate found it interesting he was able to give quite a detailed account of an interaction which occurred before he got through the front door. The matter is due to return to court on May 17. Mehajer will be sentenced at a later date. Mehajer to fight bankruptcy Mehajer has also launched a Federal Court bid to overturn his bankruptcy while he awaits a court ruling on whether he will be jailed for electoral fraud. Mehajer was declared bankrupt by the Federal Circuit Court on March 20 while he was in prison awaiting trial on charges of perverting the course of justice and conspiring to cheat or defraud for allegedly staging a car crash that prevented him from attending an assault trial last year.

After two months behind bars, Mehajer mounted a successful bid for bail and was freed from Silverwater jail on April 4. He is expected to stand trial on those charges next year. The liquidator appointed to Mehajer's failed company, SM Project Developments, served a bankruptcy notice on Mehajer in September last year and kicked off bankruptcy proceedings in November over a $200,000 debt. A range of other creditors are chasing Mehajer for payments and the total bill exceeds $1 million. Mehajer is expected to seek to have the bankruptcy annulled or cancelled on the basis he has the funds to pay his debts. This matter is due back in court later this week. Convicted of electoral fraud

He was convicted on April 11 of multiple counts of electoral fraud. Local Court magistrate Beverley Schurr found he participated in a "joint criminal enterprise" with his sister Fatima to rig the September 2012 local government election, which catapulted him into public office. On the first day of the trial, prosecutor Jeremy Rapke, QC, told the court Mehajer had "engaged in acts of electoral fraud designed to enhance his chances of winning the election" in 2012. Mr Rapke said Mehajer was elected to council with just 1366 preference votes, or less than 10 per cent of the formal votes cast in the poll. His sister missed out on a spot. The court heard staff at the Electoral Commission became "suspicious" after an "unusually large number" of online enrolment applications for voters in the Auburn election were submitted just before the electoral roll closed in July 2012. Analysis of Fatima Mehajer's computer showed "saved images of receipt numbers" for some of these applications, Mr Rapke said.

The forms were submitted from IP addresses associated with the Mehajer family. The court heard those voters were not located in the Auburn local government area. Mr Rapke alleged Mehajer also sought to increase his chances of winning the election by running as part of a group. A number of the candidates were not eligible to contest the election because they did not live in the Auburn local government area, the court heard. Mehajer and his sister will return to court on June 14 for submissions on the appropriate sentence. Both were permitted to remain on bail.