– donations trial opens

time that some of the donations were made.

Dixon said this was possible justification or motive for the donations.

Colin Zheng was Zhang’s righthand man and would often communicate on behalf of Zhang.

Ross knew Zhang was the true donor, yet provided the party with the names of the ‘‘sham donors’’, Dixon submitted.

For the Labour Party donations, one of the men who has name suppression allowed his name to be put forward for the purchase of a painting and recruited others to put their names forward as the ‘‘sham donors’’.

‘‘He played an active role in the coverup,’’ Dixon said.

The other man was the person on the inside for the Labour Party. The woman also aided in the coverup, Dixon said.

The Labour Party 2017 donation revolves around five paintings being sold to different people for a $60,000 payment at a sham auction, Dixon said.

The Crown will submit evidence that Zhang was the true owner of the paintings and source of the money. Ahead of the purchase, a meeting was held between the defendants where it was agreed Zhang would buy the painting, but others would be put forward as the donors. A total of $34,840 was then transferred to the Labour Party in smaller donations using five different names.

Two months after the March 2017 Labour donation, Zhang, Shijia (Colin) Zheng and Ross met at Cibo, a restaurant in Parnell, Auckland.

It was agreed at the meeting that Zhang would donate $100,000, but other names would be put forward as the genuine donors, and it would be broken up in smaller chunks to get under the disclosure threshold, Dixon submitted.

In late May 2017, Ross sent Colin Zheng the Botany electoral party account and the rules regarding donations.

The judge-alone trial before Justice Ian Gault continues.