A four-year saga over alleged cover-ups of donations to National and Labour ends with the former National MP cleared and three others guilty on some charges
Three of the seven defendants in the High Court political donations fraud trial - but not former MP Jami-Lee Ross - have been found guilty of obtaining by deception.
Ross and three others with name suppression connected to a donation to Labour in 2017 were found not guilty of all charges.
There were no convictions over the Labour Party investigation.
Justice Ian Gault delivered his judgment on Wednesday morning, finding businessman Yikun Zhang, and brothers Colin Zheng and Joe Zheng guilty over one donation to National in 2018, Colin Zheng guilty over a donation to National in 2017 and Joe Zheng guilty of lying to the Serious Fraud Office.
The Serious Fraud Office prosecuted four of the seven people, Ross, Zhang, Zheng and Zheng for deceit in breaking up two $100,000 donations to National, in 2017 and 2018.
Those four, plus three others with name suppression, had also faced charges over a $60,000 donation (net $35,000) to Labour in 2017, the proceeds of a purported fundraising auction of paintings.
Lawyers for two of those with name suppression had already appealed a decision by Justice Gault allowing them to be identified but lost in the Court of Appeal, so the suppression was to lift after he released his verdicts. But further applications were immediately made by those defendants after the verdicts for permanent suppression, so the judge made an interim order keeping their names secret until a further hearing.
Joe Zheng was also found guilty of lying to the Serious Fraud Office during his compulsory interviews in December 2019 and January 2020.
During a seven-week trial, the Crown alleged that in all three instances, the large sums were broken up into smaller amounts beneath electoral law disclosure limits, and instead 'transmitted' to the parties via 'sham donors'.
After the verdict was read out, Ross hugged his lawyer Hannah Stuart in the courtroom.
Outside the High Court he said he was grateful to his lawyers Ron Mansfield KC and Stuart and to the judge for accepting his innocence.
He acknowledged those who'd been "kind" to him throughout and just wanted to get on now with his day. He did not comment on whether he could restart his political career.
In its closing address, the Crown said all those who helped in what it says was a fraudulent scheme to keep the major donor, Zhang's name from being made public, had lied. All except Ross. The Crown case is that Ross' self-taped conversations with National leader Simon Bridges, his two media conferences and a complaint interview to the police in October 2018 implicated himself by admitting he had been involved.
The inquiries into the National case happened first, then in 2020 once the names of Ross, Zhang, Zheng and Zheng were made public, a new inquiry into the Labour Party followed.
Also in 2020, the SFO investigated donations to the New Zealand First Foundation, charging two people who after a trial this year were found not guilty of obtaining by deception.
After Justice Gault delivered his verdicts, sentencing was set for November 30 and the three who had been found guilty were remanded on bail.
During the trial, the Serious Fraud Office's prosecutions had exposed concerns about the use of its extensive coercive powers and secrecy, and the manner in which it treated suspects, withheld information from them and blanked their lawyers.
After trial, the SFO issued a statement outlining the guilty verdicts.
“New Zealanders have the right to know who is funding the party they support and to be able to make an informed decision when they head to the voting booths,” the SFO director, Karen Chang, said.
“Transparency around political donations is vital to the continued health of New Zealand’s democracy and our global reputation for low levels of corruption, both of which deserve protecting.
“It is extremely important we take action when we believe this reputation is at risk.”
