Only three of nine people charged over political donations deceit in 2022 were convicted, despite at least $1m spent on top lawyers by the Crown
Prosecutions of political party donors in two high-profile cases cost taxpayers more than $1 million for lawyers and expert witnesses - and that excludes years of work by teams of Serious Fraud Office staff lawyers and investigators.
The court case against two people for donations through the New Zealand First Foundation saw both defendants acquitted. Crown Law is appealing, meaning further costs for King's Counsel at the Court of Appeal hearing expected in the coming months.
Just three of a further seven defendants in another trial in 2022 involving Labour and the National Party were found guilty of obtaining by deceit. Yikun Zhang, and Colin and Joe Zheng were sentenced to community detention, essentially remaining at their homes under curfew each night, for three to four months and periods of community service.
Figures released to Newsroom under the Official Information Act show the Serious Fraud Office spent $210,000 across the two cases and Crown Law, which takes over paying the costs of the SFO's 'panel' lawyers once charges are laid, spent a further $850,000, including about $580,000 on two King's Counsel.
The three-week NZ First Foundation trial soaked up $360,000 across the SFO and Crown Law.
The Labour and National cases were joined as one trial, which lasted seven weeks, with legal and expert costs totalling $700,000.
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In the case against six defendants over donations valued at a net $35,000 made to the Labour Party in 2017 from an art auction, the SFO was found by the Justice Ian Gault to have failed to make one critical check on the values of artworks that might have led to wider convictions.
National MP Jami-Lee Ross - whose public accusations prompted the twin inquiries into, first, two $100,000 National donations in 2017 and 2018 and then Labour's art auction from 2017 - was acquitted of all charges despite tapes and media videos in which the Crown says he incriminated himself, and evidence that he had acted knowingly to bring down former National leader Simon Bridges.
Despite fielding two King's Counsel and supporting lawyers at each of the trials, the Crown had difficulty convincing the two trial judges of its overall case.
In the New Zealand First Foundation case, of two men with name suppression, Justice Pheroze Jagose found the monies the Crown alleged were party donations could not have been so as they were not given to a party. That ruling was quickly addressed in Parliament with an amendment to political donations law to ensure the definition of party donation would catch shadow entities, the strategy deployed in the NZ First Foundation case.
Despite the law change for future instances, the Crown is appealing Justice Jagose's acquittal of the two men, meaning further preparation, and a one-day hearing, set down for September.
