By Catrin Owen of 
Four men facing Serious Fraud Office charges over donations made to the National Party have pleaded not guilty at their first appearance at court today. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross has been found not guilty on fraud charges relating to donations made to the Labour and National parties.
On Wednesday, after hearing seven weeks of evidence, High Court Justice Ian Gault delivered his verdict in the trial.
Ross and three businessmen - Yikun Zhang, Shijia (Colin) Zheng and Hengjia (Joe) Zheng - were charged by the Serious Fraud Office over donations made to the National Party in 2017 and 2018.
The three businessmen also faced charges - alongside two men and a woman, who all have interim name suppression - over donations made to the Labour Party in 2017.
The Crown's case at trial was that sham donors were used and put forward by men on the inside of both political parties to disguise the true donor: Zhang.
Justice Gault found Zhang not guilty in relation to the National Party donation in 2017 but guilty of the donation in 2018.
Colin Zheng was found guilty in relation to the 2017 and 2018 donation.
Joe Zheng was found guilty in relation to the 2018 donation and guilty of obstructing a Serious Fraud Office investigation.
Ross was acquitted on all charges.
Zhang, the Zheng twins and the people with name suppression were all found not guilty over donations made to the Labour Party in 2017.
The events that led to the trial at the High Court in Auckland were set in motion in 2018, when Ross made a series of explosive allegations about then-National leader Simon Bridges and his handling of party donations.
However, Ross' allegations instead led to him, Zhang and the Zheng brothers being charged.
All the defendants denied they'd engaged in a fraudulent device, trick or stratagem in which they intended to deceive the secretaries of the Labour and National parties, the Electoral Commission and the public.
Paintings
The Crown's case at trial concerned five paintings being sold at an alleged sham auction.
Ahead of the purchase, a meeting was held between the defendants, where it was agreed Zhang would buy the painting, but others would be put forward as the donors, the Crown alleged.
A total of $34,840 was then transferred to the Labour Party in smaller donations, using five different names.
All the people whose names were used told the court they did not donate to the party.
Dinner at Cibo
Two months after the Labour donations, Zhang, Shijia (Colin) Zheng and Ross met at Cibo, a restaurant in Parnell, Auckland.
The Crown's case was at the meeting it was agreed Zhang would donate $100,000 to National. However, other names would be put forward as the donors and the money would be broken up in smaller chunks to get under the disclosure threshold.
The second series of National Party donations that came under scrutiny in court were made in 2018.
Joe Zheng made seven transfers, totalling $100,050, to the National Party following a meeting between Zhang and Bridges in May.
Ross had told Bridges that Zhang was interested in a royal honour and supported both sides of politics, but aligned more with the National Party.
In September of that year, Zhang was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to New Zealand-China relations and the Chinese community.
