R v Zhang

The case of R v Zhang was heard in the High Court of New Zealand in Auckland. The defendants, Yikun Zhang, Shijia (Colin) Zheng, and Hengjia (Joe) Zheng, were found guilty of charges related to obtaining by deception in the context of political donations to the National Party. The defendants were also found guilty of providing false or misleading information to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Mr Zhang applied for discharge without conviction, and the court assessed the application by considering the gravity of the offending, the consequences of conviction, and whether those consequences were out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence. The court found that the consequences were not out of all proportion and declined the application for discharge without conviction. The court then outlined its approach to sentencing, considering the purposes and principles of sentencing, and selected a starting point for the offending, adjusting that starting point based on personal circumstances to determine an end sentence. The court imposed sentences of community detention combined with community work for each defendant, taking into account the aggravating and mitigating factors of their offending and personal circumstances.

The final orders were that Mr Zhang was sentenced to four months’ community detention, with a daily curfew from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, and 200 hours’ community work. Mr Colin Zheng was sentenced to five months’ community detention, with a daily curfew from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, and 250 hours’ community work. Mr Joe Zheng was sentenced to two months’ community detention, with a daily curfew from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, and 100 hours’ community work for the obtaining by deception charge, and one month’s community detention, with a daily curfew from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, and 50 hours’ community work for the charge of providing false or misleading information to the SFO, to be served cumulatively.