The ex-National Party leader was called to the witness stand at the SFO trial of former political ally Jami-Lee Ross. Video / NZ Herald
A prominent businessman convicted in a landmark political donations case has launched an appeal, and is now free to leave the country - after he was earlier stopped from departing in an apparent bungle.
Yikun Zhang, who has children in the US, tried to travel overseas late last year,the Herald understands.
He was blocked at the border in error because an alert against his name was still in place. At the time, he was entitled to travel overseas because his sentence was inactivated due to the appeal.
It is not known whether he eventually left the country.
Zhang, a New Zealand Order of Merit Recipient, was sentenced to 200 hours community work and community detention with a curfew by Justice Ian Gault on November 30 at the Auckland High Court.
His sentence came after a lengthy Judge-alone trial where he was found guilty, along with twins Shijia (Colin) Zheng and Hengjia (Joe) Zheng, of obtaining by deception relating to concealing the true identity of the source of donations to the National Party in 2018.
Zhang and the Zhengs, and three other defendants with ongoing interim name suppression, were found not guilty on all of the 12 obtaining by deception charges relating to Labour Party donations. Former MP Jami-Lee Ross was also found not guilty on all charges.
It is the first time anyone in New Zealand had been found guilty of obtaining by deception in relation to electoral donations and followed a lengthy Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation and prosecution.
His lawyer John Katz KC filed an appeal shortly thereafter, the Court of Appeal confirmed. The Herald sought comment from Zhang via Katz but did not receive a comment by press time.
Yikun Zhang appears in the Auckland District Court in 2020. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Under Section 345 of the Criminal Procedure Act, a community-based sentence ceases to run the day an appeal is filed. It resumes if the appeal fails.
A Corrections spokesman confirmed Zhang is not currently on sentence so is not subject to any travel restrictions.
The community detention part of Zhang’s sentence required him to stay at home from 10pm to 6am for a period of four months, alongside the 200 hours community work.
At his sentencing in November, Crown lawyer Paul Wicks KC said Zhang, who is a New Zealand citizen and was made an MNZM in 2018 for services to New Zealand-China relations and the Chinese community, was the key orchestrator of the fraud and sought a starting point of 18 months imprisonment.
Obtaining by deception carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
“He was involved in the transfer of money from China to Joe Zheng’s bank account and he knew that others were taking steps to conceal who the true donor was,” Wicks said.
Wicks said the offending involved the subversion and manipulation of the proper public process for political donations.
“It was not a victimless crime, the victims were the public at large,” Wicks said.
Katz told the court the offending did not amount to electoral fraud and came years before the 2020 election, so should not be seen as an attempt to influence its outcome.
“This was simply a misguided and completely hapless attempt to disguise or withhold from scrutiny the identity of the true donor.”
Four of the seven accused in the political donations trial (from left) Yikun Zhang, Shijia (Colin) Zheng, Hengjia (Joe) Zheng, and Jami-Lee Ross, later found not guilty on all charges. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Katz spoke of the various glowing character references for Zhang speaking to his charitable work, including to survivors of the Christchurch mosque attack.
“He is seen, in te reo terms, as a kaumātua,” Katz said.
References were provided by, among others, politician and Waipareira Trust chief executive and Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere. Veteran activist Tāme Iti also provided a character reference for Zhang, and was in court.
Katz asked Justice Gault to take into account the shame and the loss of face Zhang would endure.
“That concept may be a little bit alien, but it is very real for the Chinese community,” Katz said.
“The real penalty for Mr Zhang is his fall from grace.”
Katz said “media intrusions” in part forced their parents to send their children overseas for education to the United States.
He sought a discharge without conviction for Zhang, in part because a conviction could jeopardise his ability to visit his children in the US.
