The Green Party co-leaders have revealed what they knew about the Golriz Ghahraman shoplifting allegations.
On Wednesday, it was revealed Greens justice spokesperson Ghahraman was standing aside from her portfolios after allegations emerged she had shoplifted from Scotties Boutique in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby on December 23.
But Ghahraman is also accused of shoplifting from the same store weeks before the December 23 incident, Newstalk ZB Plus reported on Friday. The Green MP has not yet responded to any of the allegations.
On Friday, James Shaw and Marama Davidson released a statement saying they became aware of an allegation involving Ghahraman last year - on December 27.
But as she was overseas, the pair said Scotties was comfortable waiting for her to return to New Zealand to resolve the issue.
Then on January 5, they said they were advised of allegations of a second incident at Scotties.
"Scotties had told us they did not want the allegations to become public so we did not make a statement at the time. However, Ms. Ghahraman did agree to stand down from her portfolios until the matter was resolved," the co-leaders said in a statement on Facebook.
They added they won't be commenting further until "we have gathered all the facts and spoken with Ms. Ghahraman after she returns to New Zealand".
"The Green Party has a long-standing commitment to looking into matters such as these in a way that is fair to everyone involved," they said.
"In the meantime, we are aware that some people may be working to exploit this situation for their own political gain.
"To that effect, let us be clear that no other Green Party MPs were involved in the alleged incident, we have had no contact with the Police, and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on their investigation in any way."
Scotties has repeatedly declined to comment on the allegations to Newshub.
