SFO case of the First New Zealand Foundation: couple charged to keep names suppressed

Two people facing charges following a Serious Fraud Office investigation of the First New Zealand Foundation will have their names suppressed for the time being.

A reserved judgment of Judge Winter was published tonight.

Both, neither of whom is a minister, acting deputy or party candidate, have been accused of depositing more than $ 740,000 in foundation accounts.

They appeared in court yesterday, where Robert Stewart, on behalf of the NZME Herald editor Stuff and RNZ, challenged the suppression orders surrounding the case.

The judge reserved his decision until today.

The name suppression was originally granted until they appeared in court again on October 29, but media outlets requested to challenge the order on public interest grounds given the October 17 election.

Charges of obtaining by deception were brought against the two on September 23.

In making his decision, Judge Winter said that the release of the name of one of the defendants “at this time may inform potential New Zealand First Party voters that they have not yet cast their vote.”

“Those who have already done it [voted], would have been deprived of the names of the two accused persons and of the media comment that will be associated with him.

Judge Winter said that the publication of the name of one of the defendants “at this stage, at least six days after the early voting period, can unfairly destabilize those who have already voted as much as it informs those who did not.”

Identifying one of the defendants could easily identify the other defendant, Judge Winter said.

However, Winter said the OFS had been careful to inform the New Zealand public of the charges “before the beginning of the early voting period.”

That happened through a press release.

Judge Winter also said that he was satisfied with the threshold of extreme hardship caused to one of the defendants and those related to that person that had been met if the names were released.

In particular, this reflected the media scrutiny that would fall on the defendants due to the general elections.

“At this particular time, when the media is intensely focused on his name and the connection to the general election it will mean that [the person] may be unfairly vilified in the minds of prospective jurors when [the person] he will eventually be tried. “

One of the defendants confirmed in his presentation that they would choose to have their case determined by a jury.

They argued that “the nature of the allegation of dishonesty of this type would be very damaging … on a personal and professional level.”

The defendant argued that they were likely to be tried in advance by the public and would affect their business dealings.

In February, the Elections Commission said it believed the foundation “has received donations that should have been treated as party donations to New Zealand’s First Party.” The matter was referred to the police and later to the OFS.

Collection documents obtained yesterday by the Herald allege that the duo deposited $ 746,881 into two bank accounts, including an account that belongs to the New Zealand First Foundation between September 30, 2015 and February 14 of this year.

The documents state that the money was deposited with “the intent to deceive the donors of the money, the party secretary of the New Zealand First Party and / or the Election Commission.”

“The defendants adopted a fraudulent device, trick or ploy, whereby party donations for the party were entered into the bank accounts of [suppressed] and the New Zealand First Foundation and not notified to the party secretary, nor declared by the party secretary to the Election Commission, ”the documents allege.

“Those undeclared funds became available for [suppressed]/ New Zealand First Foundation to use as the defendants saw fit, and were used to pay for party expenses and to develop a fundraising database for the benefit of the party and [suppressed]. “

New Zealand’s First Party Leader Winston Peters questioned the timing of the OFS’s decision to press charges, which came a day before overseas voting started and a few days before advanced voting began.

The distinction that the party was “completely separate” from the foundation would be lost for some, he said.

The foundation’s activities came under scrutiny this year on whether it had loaned or provided money to the party for purposes that benefited the party and its deputies, and if so, whether they had properly declared themselves.

Party statements showed the foundation was listed as having made a loan of $ 73,000 to NZ First for 2017, $ 76,622 for 2018 and $ 44,923 for 2019.

RNZ reported that the foundation raised donations of more than $ 500,000 from April 2017 to March 2019.

During that period, the foundation reportedly spent more than $ 425,000 on campaign advertising expenses, political consultant fees, rent and establishment of a Wellington campaign headquarters, and administration of the party’s website.

This followed the resignation of party chairman Lester Gray last year after he refused to sign the party’s 2019 financial documents.

“This type of operation does not align with my moral values ​​and business practices and therefore I can no longer support the party,” Gray told Stuff at the time.