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Two individuals charged in connection with the NZ First Party donations scandal are alleged to have fraudulently deposited more than $ 740,000 into the NZ First Foundation account.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) filed charges in September against the couple following an investigation launched by Stuff and RNZ reports on the NZ First Foundation.
NZ First leader Winston Peters tried to prevent the OFS from making the charges public.
On Thursday at Auckland’s Waitakere District Court, Robert Stewart acted on behalf of Stuff , RNZ and NZME, is prepared to challenge the suppression orders on public interest grounds before the elections in front of Judge Peter Winter.
READ MORE:
* Election 2020: Urgent hearing convened on suppression of names in the case of donations from the NZ First Foundation
* Election 2020: Winston Peters attacks Serious Fraud Office when bid to keep charges secret fails
* Election 2020: Winston Peters threatens to take the Serious Fraud Office to court, as two indicted by NZ First Foundation
* Election 2020: Winston Peters attempted to suppress the positions of the First NZ Foundation until after the election.
* Serious Fraud Office will investigate First New Zealand Foundation
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
NZ First leader Winston Peters tried to muzzle the OFS.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
The hearing was held in Waitakere District Court on Thursday.
Collection documents obtained by Stuff they allege that the couple, between September 30, 2015 and February 14, 2020, deposited a total of $ 746,881 into two separate accounts, including the New Zealand First Foundation (NZFF).
The OFS alleges that the couple intended to mislead the NZ First party secretary and / or the Election Commission.
“The defendants adopted a fraudulent device, trick or ploy, by which party donations for the Party were deposited into the bank accounts of [suppressed] and the NZFF and not notified to the Secretary of the Party, nor declared by the Secretary of the Party to the Electoral Commission, ”the documents state.
“Those undeclared funds were made available for [suppressed]/ NZFF to be used as the defendants saw fit, and were used to pay Party expenses and develop a fundraising database for the benefit of the Party and [suppressed]. “
The couple faces a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted.
None of the people charged is a minister, sitting deputy or candidate in the next election, or current member of the New Zealand First Party.
A provisional suppression order was expected to last until the two defendants appeared in North Shore District Court on October 29, after the October 17 general election and possibly after the resulting coalition negotiations concluded.
However, the media requested an urgent hearing to challenge the suppression orders.
In a memorandum to the court, Stewart said an important point to consider was whether the press release from NZ First, which was highly critical of the SFO, was fair and accurate.
