Dalziel's election expenses referred to SFO

The Serious Fraud Office has received a referral from police over Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel's election expenses.

The SFO says it is not making any further comment at this time.

• This story was first published by RNZ

In December last year, the Christchurch City Council's electoral officer was asked to investigate why Dalziel has only revealed the identity of six people, who each donated more than $1500 to her campaign.

They donated through an auction her husband ran. She only declared the total amount that came from him.

Dalziel has blamed her husband for the lack of transparency, saying he had believed the donors who gave more than $1500 did not need to be declared, and she had acted on his advice.