A further 10 charities are being investigated by the Charity Commission as part of its class inquiry into concerns about cheques being exchanged for cash.
HMRC recently made an unannounced visit to a company in Hackney, east London, in which 105 charities were found to have cashed cheques with it to a value of £22m between December 2021 and March 2023.
The commission initially added 10 charities to its class inquiry in May but has now doubled the number of those it is investigating.
It is now also investigating Ezer Viznitz Foundation, Satmar Nursery Trust, Lehachyos, Dover Sholem Community Trust, Friends of Yeshiva Daas Sholem Shotz, Vyoel Moshe Charitable Trust, the Z.S.V. Trust, United Talmudical Associates Ltd, Forty Limited and Bnois Jerusalem Schools.
The regulator has ordered all of the charities it is investigating, many of which have the advancement of the Orthodox Jewish faith among their objects, not to issue cheques without its prior consent.
It aims to determine how the charities transferred funds, whether trustees had oversight of what happened to the cash exchanged for the cheques, and if the money has been used properly to support what the charities were set up to do.
The commission will seek to establish how trustees determined that these financial transactions were in their charity’s best interests.
A spokesperson for Friends of Yeshiva Daas Sholem Shotz said the charity had asked to be removed from the investigation as all of its trustees were appointed in August 2024, after the cheques had been cashed.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for United Talmudical Associates Ltd said the cheques being scrutinised had been cashed by beneficiaries in the charities’ names through the Hackney-based company.
They also claimed that the 105 charities had collectively distributed tens of thousands of pounds worth of cheques overall, rather than the £22m noted by the commission. However, the commission said it stood by the figure in its announcement.
All the other named charities with publicly available contact details have been asked for comment.
