THE treasurer of the party that fought last year's Stormont election on a legalise marijuana ticket has been hit with a hefty fine by the Electoral Commission.
Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol (Cista) faces total fines of £23,000 following numerous failures to comply with the requirements for reporting political finances.
The party's Northern Ireland arm has been fined £13,000 for failing to deliver two quarterly donations reports and its spending return for last year's assembly election. The party was also late in delivering a loans report and one statement of accounts, while also failing to maintain adequate accounting records.
Cista's sister party in Britain has been fined £10,000.
Bob Posner of the Electoral Commission said: "Political parties have a legal responsibility to submit their financial returns, so that voters know the sources and levels of their funding.
"We had significant concerns about this party’s willingness to comply with the rules and the loss of transparency as a result of its unprecedented history of non-compliance."
The party was previously fined £18,000 by the Electoral Commission, which has since been paid.
