Jami-Lee Ross arrives at Wellington police station to hand over evidence for his allegations against National leader Simon Bridges.

New Zealand has had its share of controversial political donations, but history shows little has been handed down in the way of penalties.

Simon Bridges is the latest politician to be caught up in a donation scandal after his former "numbers man" and now political enemy, MP Jami-Lee Ross, alleged the National Party leader unlawfully handled a $100,000 donation from businessman Yikun Zhang.

SUPPLIED Yikun Zhang with Governor-General of New Zealand Patsy Reddy after receiving an Order of Merit for services to New Zealand-China relations and the Chinese community.

At a press conference at Parliament House on Tuesday, Ross said he and Bridges had attended a dinner at Zhang's home on May 14.

At a fundraiser on May 21, Bridges phoned Ross to let him know Zhang had offered him a $100,000 donation, Ross alleged.

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Bridges asked Ross to collect the donation and did not want the donation made public, Ross said.

HAGEN HOPKINS/GETTY IMAGES National leader Simon Bridges responds to rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross' accusations of donation fraud.

Ross said he obliged and split the donation into smaller donations that were below the $15,000 declaration threshold. The full $100,000 donation was not disclosed to the Electoral Commission, he said.

After receiving the donation Ross phoned Bridges and, knowing he had carried out an unlawful act, recorded the conversation, he said.

Ross on Wednesday went to police with the recording as evidence for his claim that Bridges asked him to commit electoral fraud.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF Jami-Lee Ross took a recording to police on Wednesday as evidence of alleged unlawful donations.

Bridges has labelled the allegations "baseless and false". Ross is not accusing of Zhang of illegal behaviour.

The Electoral Commission has no record of Yikun Zhang making a political donation.

WHO ELSE HAS ZHANG DONATED TO?

Two sources close to Auckland Mayor Phil Goff's 2016 mayoral campaign said they recalled Zhang buying an item or two at a fund-raising auction.

The September 2016 auction raised $250,000, with $150,000 coming for a copy of a book Goff donated, authored and signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Zhang was not the buyer of the book. Two sources close to Goff's mayoral campaign said they recalled Zhang buying an item or two at the auction.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF Auckland mayor Phil Goff received money from Yikun Zhang.

Local body electoral rules do not require individual purchases at auctions to be declared, but in total, auctions contributed a declared $366,115 towards Goff's 2016 donations war chest of $604,171.

The auction was webcast live.

Goff's spokesman Michael Burgess said the mayor was also asked to support the nomination of Zhang for his Queen's Honours List in August last year (Zhang was given the New Zealand Order of Merit in September).

The nomination was initiated by the National government and included former deputy speaker of the House, Eric Roy, he said.

The mayor supported the nomination in recognition of Zhang's community service, he said.

ANYONE ELSE?

﻿Zhang gifted Southland District mayor Gary Tong and his partner a return trip to China to attend business and local government introductions in Beijing and Guangzhou, an Official Information Act response shows.

In return, Tong gave Zhang two legs of fresh lamb from his farm and four live crayfish from a fishing trip.

JOHN HAWKINS/STUFF Southland District mayor Gary Tong received a return trip to China from Yikun Zhang.

Tong also hosted Zhang in Southland.

WHAT ARE THE RULES AROUND DONATIONS?

General election candidates who receive donations of more than $1500 must report the name and address of the donor to the Electoral Commission.

For political party donations greater than $15,000, the name and address of the donor must be reported to the Electoral Commission.

Party donations of more than $30,000 must be declared within 10 working days.

Candidate donations can include money, goods or services used for a politician's campaign.

"There are a range of offences and penalties in the Electoral Act 1993 for failure to comply with the rules for party and candidate donations," an Electoral Commission spokeswoman said.

"Penalties range from a fine of $40,000 at the lower end, to a maximum of two years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 at the upper end."

HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN FINED?

The Electoral Commission is only aware of one case resulting in a conviction - two low-profile candidates from unregistered parties were fined $200 each after the 2008 general election for failing to file expense donation returns.

The only active prosecution involves People's Party secretary Anil Sharma, who is facing five charges of failing to file donations made to his party exceeding the sum of $30,000.

IS THAT ALL?

The seriousness of the allegations against Bridges are unprecedented in New Zealand politics.

But other high profile donation scandals have involved current deputy prime minister Winston Peters and, at a local government level, former Auckland mayoral hopeful John Banks.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Deputy prime minister Winston Peters was cleared by the Serious Fraud Office of wrongdoing regarding his political donations.

Before the 2008 election, it emerged Rich Lister Owen Glenn had donated $100,000 to Peters in 2006 to help fund a legal challenge to his loss in the Tauranga seat.

Peters was censured by Parliament's privileges committee, which found he knowingly failed to declare the billionaire's gift.

The Serious Fraud Office eventually cleared Peters of wrongdoing.

In 2014, Banks was convicted over two $25,000 donations to his 2010 mayoral campaign by internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.

He appealed and was subsequently acquitted of the charges.

WHO INVESTIGATES THIS STUFF?

The Electoral Commission is responsible for the book keeping of electoral returns.

But when it comes to prosecuting, that's a job for the police.