Regulator opens inquiry into charity over unexplained payments to a trustee

The Charity Commission will examine whether the funds of the Orphan Relief Fund and Charitable Trust have been used for charitable purposes

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a poverty relief charity over allegedly unexplained payments to a trustee and failure to provide records about its spending in Iraq.

The commission announced today that it had opened an inquiry into the Orphan Relief Fund and Charitable Trust following a compliance visit in May, which was carried out because the charity operated in high-risk countries.

The charity provides poverty relief and education for young people who have lost one or more parent, and works in Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia, as well as a number of other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

During the compliance visit, the commission found that the trustees were unable to provide records about a significant amount of its spending in Iraq between 2013 and 2017.

A number of unexplained payments had also been made to one of the charity’s trustees, the commission said.

The regulator also found that the charity had spent charitable funds on activities that fell outside the charity’s remit.

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According to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission’s website, the trust had an income of £583,485 and spent £596,199 in the year to 31 July 2016.

The latest accounts were submitted 43 days late, the Charity Commission website shows.

The regulator said the inquiry, which was opened on 24 July, would examine the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees and their conduct.

It will also look at the financial controls and management of the charity and whether its funds have been used for charitable purposes and can be accounted for, as well as whether the trustees have complied with charity law.

The Orphan Relief Fund and Charitable Trust did not respond to a request for comment before Third Sector’s deadline.

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Regulator opens inquiry into humanitarian aid charity

The Charity Commission is looking into the governance of Anaya Aid, which works in Syria, after port officials seized thousands of pounds from it on two separate occasions

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a humanitarian aid charity that works in Syria after thousands of pounds of cash belonging to the organisation was seized by port officials on two separate occasions.

The regulator said it had opened the inquiry into Anaya Aid, which has the object of providing international humanitarian aid during emergency situations, after the charity ignored a warning from the commission that it should not try to take large amounts of cash across borders.

The commission said in a statement today it was told by police in December 2015 that a trustee and a former trustee of the charity had been stopped by UK port officials and about £5,000 of cash belonging to the charity had been seized.

The regulator said that, although the funds were returned, it warned the charity about the risks involved in couriering large sums of charitable funds.

In February, the commission and police issued a warning to charities telling them to avoid cash couriering because of the risks involved.

But the commission said that, in April 2017, it was told by police that the same trustee had again been stopped by UK port officials and cash totalling €23,000 (about £20,300) and £1,500 had been seized.

The regulator said the funds were subject to a cash detention order and were at risk of loss in the event of a successful forfeiture application by police.

The commission said it had also carried out three compliance visits to the charity because of a range of regulatory concerns, “particularly in relation to the charity’s work in Syria and the partners it has used”.

The regulator said: “The trustees have put charity funds at risk of loss on a number of occasions and have failed to comply with the commission’s regulatory advice and guidance.”

It said it had issued an order under section 84 of the Charities Act 2011, directing the trustees “to take specific actions within set timeframes” and issued a further order under section 76(3)(f) of the act, restricting certain transactions that the trustees can enter into without the commission’s prior consent.

Anaya Aid had an income of £418,347 in the year to the end of February 2016, according to its entry on the Charity Commission’s online register, up from £72,052 in the previous year.

The commission said the inquiry would examine such issues as whether the trustees had put the charity’s funds at risk by allowing a trustee of the charity to carry the charity’s funds in cash while travelling in a convoy; the inability of the trustees to adequately account for the end use of the charity’s aid; and trustees’ failure to comply with regulatory advice and guidance from the commission.

The charity did not respond to a request for comment from Third Sector.

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Regulator launches statutory inquiry into regeneration charity where £90k went missing

NSA Afan, based in Port Talbot, south Wales, reported the theft to the Charity Commission in May last year

The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into a Welsh community regeneration charity after £90,000 of the charity’s funds went missing following a theft.

NSA Afan, based in Port Talbot, south Wales, contacted the regulator in May 2016 to report a theft at the charity, “with £90,000 of the charity’s funds unaccounted for”, according to the commission.

The charity, which provides community learning and employability schemes in Neath and Port Talbot, had an income of £1.5m and spending of £1.6m in the year to 31 March 2016.

After the serious incident report was submitted, the commission opened a monitoring case to oversee the charity’s response.

In a statement published today, the commission said the monitoring case had prompted “serious concerns about the charity’s governance and internal controls and the apparent failure of the trustees to remedy these issues, placing the charity’s property and its operations at risk”.

Because of these concerns, the commission opened a statutory inquiry in February this year.

The inquiry will examine the charity’s financial controls, its management and application of charitable funds and assets, its governance and whether the charity’s decision-making processes are adequate, especially for handling conflicts of interest.

It will also examine whether the trustees have acted prudently and exercised reasonable care in respect of the day-to-day running of the charity, according to the commission.

In January, the Welsh government suspended funding to the charity amid allegations of the misuse of public funds. 

NSA Afan was due to receive £526,800 in grant funding to deliver the Welsh government’s Communities First programme in Sandfields and Aberavon up to 31 March, but was told on 12 December the funding had been suspended with effect from 1 December, leaving the charity concerned about its future viability.

Ian Isaac, chief executive of NSA Afan, told Third Sector that 12 members of its staff had now been transferred to the local authority because the charity was unable to continue running some of its services without the funding. He said it had been able to continue providing other services out of its own income.

Today the commission said it had been liaising closely with the Welsh government, which it said also had concerns about the governance of the charity.

Isaac described the commission’s concerns about the charity’s governance as “sweeping allegations without evidence”, but said the charity was cooperating fully with the inquiry.

In January, South Wales Police said a 35-year-old woman from the Port Talbot area was arrested on suspicion of theft on 11 August 2016 after a complaint was made by NSA Afan, and had been bailed while the police investigation continued.

Today a police spokesman said: “South Wales Police is continuing to investigate and it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage.”

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Charity Commission announces inquiry into youth charity

A statutory inquiry into the Youth Development Summer Camp Project by the regulator was opened last August, partly because there appears to be no safeguarding policy

The Charity Commission has announced an inquiry into a youth charity that failed to inform the regulator that one of its trustees had been arrested in relation to a safeguarding issue.

The commission said in a statement today that it opened a statutory inquiry into the Youth Development Summer Camp Project, which provides or assists in the provision of holiday camps for young people, in part because the charity did not appear to have any written safeguarding policies in place.

The regulator opened the inquiry in August last year but did not announce it until today because of an ongoing police investigation.

It said that although one of the charity’s trustees, who has not been named, was arrested last year under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the charity had not made a serious incident report to the regulator.

The commission is also investigating whether any disclosure and barring checks have been carried out.

“The charity’s annual returns for financial years ending 2014 onwards indicate that the charity has no written safeguarding policies in place, including in relation to risk management or vulnerable beneficiaries,” the regulator said today.

“Due to the nature of the charity’s activities, these factors have raised serious regulatory concerns for the commission and require further examination by way of a statutory inquiry.”

The inquiry will examine matters such as whether the charity’s trustees have properly managed the risk to the charity’s beneficiaries and services, whether they have complied with their legal duties and responsibilities in the governance and management of the charity, particularly in relation to policies and procedures regarding safeguarding, and whether trustees have protected the charity’s assets, including its reputation.

The charity had an income of £69,166 in the year to 15 October 2015, according to its entry on the Charity Commission register.

Third Sector was unable to contact anyone at the charity for comment.

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Regulator opens inquiry into charity that has failed to file accounts for five years

The All Nations Community Centre was previously part of the Charity Commission’s class inquiry into charities that had persistently failed to file annual documents

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a Gloucestershire-based community centre that has failed to submit any accounts to the regulator since 2011.

The commission said today that it opened the inquiry into the All Nations Community Centre, which provides community activities and educational and social support, after the charity failed to provide accounting information for five financial years from the year ending 30 September 2011.

The charity was previously part of the commission’s class inquiry into charities that have failed to submit their accounts and returns for two or more financial years.

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According to the Charity Commission website, the charity is 1,767 days overdue in filing accounts and/or its annual return for the year to the end of September 2011.

The only annual return or accounts submitted by the charity to the regulator in any of the past five financial years is its annual return for 2011/12, which was received on 18 May this year, 1,388 days late, the commission’s records show.

The commission’s website also shows few contact details for the charity and names none of its trustees.

A commission spokeswoman said the regulator was aware of the charity’s failure to keep its details on the register up-to-date, and was in correspondence with trustees about the issue as part of the inquiry.

According to the charity’s most recent accounts available on Companies House, for the year ending 30 September 2015, the charity made a loss for the year of £6,076 and had a turnover of £39,782.

The Companies House website also shows the charity avoided being struck off the register in February this year, and has one registered company officer.

The Charity Commission said in a statement that its statutory inquiry would consider whether All Nations Community Centre was operating for the public benefit and whether the trustees had complied with their duties and responsibilities.

The inquiry would also focus on the general administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees, specifically regarding the charity’s property, the regulator said.

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