On track for preelection decision: SFO

WELLINGTON: The Serious Fraud Office says it is on track to make a call before this year’s election on whether to lay charges in relation to the New Zealand First Foundation, which has been bankrolling the New Zealand First party.

In a rare statement, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which normally gives little away, yesterday laid out its timetable for the investigation, which has faced challenges because of the Covid19 lockdown.

‘‘The SFO’s prelockdown timetable for the investigation in relation to the New Zealand First Foundation would see us completing the investigation before the September election date,’’ SFO director Julie Read said.

‘‘At this stage, we are progressing the investigation under the current lockdown restrictions and are still on track to complete it within that timeframe.’’

However the logistical challenges of the lockdown meant the SFO could not set an exact date.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has set the election date for September 19, although NZ First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has been pushing for a November 21 election, because of the difficulties of holding one during a pandemic.

In February the Electoral Commission said it believed the foundation had received donations which should have been treated as party donations and had referred the matter to police to investigate.

The police referred it on to the Serious Fraud Office on February 11 and a week later the SFO launched a formal investigation.

The investigation followed revelations by RNZ and Stuff that the foundation received donations from entities connected with some of the country’s wealthiest people in the business, fisheries and horse racing worlds.

None of the donations were declared in the party’s electoral returns and the only disclosed source of money to NZ First since 2017 was a loan made by the foundation.

Documents seen by RNZ show that between April 2017 and August 2019 nearly $500,000 was deposited in the foundation bank account, including payments from some of New Zealand’s wealthiest businesspeople or entities connected to them.

In many cases the donations were for amounts just under the $15,000.01 level at which the donors’ names would normally be made public.

Over that period the foundation spent more than $425,000 paying bills for the NZ First party, including advertising expenses, fees for political consultants, rent, establishing a party HQ and running its website.

Mr Peters distanced himself from the foundation when it first came under scrutiny last November.

But documents leaked to RNZ show Mr Peters was present at a March 2017 board of directors meeting where the NZ First board agreed to the concept of establishing the foundation.

Despite Mr Peters claiming a separation between the foundation and the party, RNZ has seen documents showing dozens of party bills were paid for by the foundation and that invoices were often addressed to him and his MPs.

Mr Peters has consistently maintained that neither he nor the party has done anything wrong. — RNZ