Donations under investigation
A complaint about political donations has been referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), likely as the result of Jami-Lee Ross’ allegations against the National Party.
Police did not mention Ross by name but said in a statement that the complaint was made in October 2018 in relation to the disclosure of political donations under the Electoral Act.
Ross went to police in October 2018 after publicly accusing his National Party leader Simon Bridges of electoral fraud, and being kicked out of the party.
Bridges said yesterday morning the complaint was a matter for the National Party and continued to deny any wrongdoing.
‘‘This is clearly a matter for the National Party, I expect them to co-operate with the SFO.’’
He had not had any contact with the SFO prior to a statement about the investigation being released yesterday.
Bridges said he understood the National Party had made a written statement to police.
Ross went public with claims that Bridges had breached electoral law in his handling of an alleged $100,000 donation from wealthy businessmen Yikun Zhang and Colin Shijia Zheng.
Ross alleged the payment was split into smaller donations, so it could remain anonymous.
Bridges strongly denied the allegation and invited Ross to take evidence to police.
Ross laid the complaint at Wellington Central Police station later that week, and then released publicly a tape, on which he and Bridges discussed political donations.
Zheng was mentioned in the recording as a possible candidate for the National Party.
At the time, National Party president Peter Goodfellow said Zheng had entered its candidate college for the 2020 election. The candidate college acts as a kind of bootcamp for potential National Party candidates but it does not guarantee selection.
The SFO confirmed an investigation was under way. Ross and the National Party were asked for comment.
National deputy leader Paula Bennett said that she believed the SFO would find no wrongdoing by members of her party.
Green Party electoral spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said the investigation showed the need for electoral reform.
‘‘Currently, there are too many grey areas in the donation rules which allow political parties to auction off our democracy to the highest bidder while hiding the donations.’’
The SFO’s website states that the agency typically investigates cases when they involve high degrees of legal or financial complexity, multiple victims, allegations of bribery or corruption, and concern people in positions of trust.
The law governing the SFO gives the agency a mandate to investigate matters of serious public interest.