National Party leader Simon Bridges maintains that he was not involved with the National Party donations that resulted in the Serious Fraud Office laying charges.
In a statement the SFO says,
"The Serious Fraud Office filed criminal charges today against four people in relation to donations paid into a National Party electorate bank account.
"The defendants are scheduled to appear in the Auckland District Court on 25 February.
"The SFO will not make any further comment until any name suppression issues have been dealt with."
This is part of an investigation triggered by former National MP Jami-Lee Matenga Ross releasing phone recordings of a conversation he had with Simon Bridges regarding the allocation of donations received by the National Party.
Te Ao Māori News reached out to the SFO to confirm if Bridges was one of the four and they refused to comment beyond their statement.
Efforts to reach Jamie-Lee Matenga Ross have been unsuccessful so far.