Staffer from Australia’s One Nation Party Charged with Fraud

An election official sanitizes a table at a polling booth on March 28, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. Jono Searle/Getty Images

Queensland police have arrested and charged a man who works for the One Nation Party with fraud relating to election funding.

Alexander Jones, named on the party’s website as national executive treasurer, was charged with four counts of fraud after the Electoral Commission of Queensland referred a complaint to police.

Following investigations launched in January, detectives from the Crime and Intelligence Command’s Financial and Cyber Crime Group executed search warrants on Dec. 13 at a house in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton and at One Nation’s office at Eagle Farm.

“A 22-year-old Hamilton man was charged with two counts of utter forged documents and one count each of attempted fraud and forgery,” Queensland Police said in a statement on Dec. 15.

“Police will allege the man, a financial administrator for a political party, submitted fraudulent documentation relating to a 2020 election funding application for $24,000.”

The charge comes as political parties in Australia prepare for next year’s federal elections.

Senator Pauline Hanson arrives at doors at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on on Feb. 14, 2019. Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

Jones was given a notice to appear before the court and is due to appear at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Feb. 4.

One Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland told The Epoch Times it does not comment on investigations or matters referred to the police.

One Nation has recently published a series of animated political satire cartoons lampooning the policies of their electoral opponents in the Liberal, Labor, and Greens parties, as well as independents.

The videos have roasted Australia’s climate change policies, taxes, and political donations and have received hundreds of thousands of views and significant engagement on social media.