Former National Party candidate Jake Bezzant and his New Zealand business partners are being sued by a US investor over an alleged fraudulent scheme to solicit a US$50,000 ($86,000) investment in a company represented as an EV charging business.

Georgia resident John Stapleton on Wednesday (NZ time) filed a civil action for securities fraud and related claims against New Zealand company Invisible Urban Charging and Bezzant among others.

Invisible Urban Charging, co-founded by Bezzant in 2019, is an electric vehicle charging service providing high volumes of EV chargers to customer sites for a flat monthly fee.

Bezzant resigned as a director of Invisible Urban and left politics after former partner Tarryn Flintoft said in a podcast at the time he had been impersonating her online without her consent and soliciting images from other social media users. He denied the allegations.

Stapleton’s case, filed in a Georgia court, alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act, claiming he was fraudulently induced to invest US$50,000 in a company represented as Invisible Urban.

Bezzant and the company were approached for comment.

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