The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Busoga Association, a charity which Comic Relief had raised concerns with the regulator about over alleged fraud. 

In August, Comic Relief contacted the Charity Commission over concerns it had with a £450,000 grant it had made to the Busoga Association.

At the time, The Guardian reported that up to £200,000 of the grant made to Busoga Association was unaccounted for or the subject of possible abuse.

The Guardian alleged that £50,000 of the grant was used to pay for consultants to make the bid for a donation from Comic Relief – a unusually high amount.

The Charity Commission has today announced that it has opened a statutory inquiry into the organisation, following a compliance case opened in April.

A spokeswoman said the regulator’s concerns have been raised by the trustees’ failure to engage with it.

The Charity Commission has frozen the charity’s bank accounts as a protective measure, which means that payments cannot be made from the account without the consent of the Commission.

Its investigation will determine whether any charitable funds have been misapplied and if the general financial management of the charity is adequate.

A Comic Relief spokeswoman said: “Comic Relief vigorously pursues any abuse of funding by the projects it funds. As soon as our own checking systems raised concerns about the Busoga Association we alerted the Charity Commission.

“This case is testimony to Comic Relief’s rigorous approach to making grants and ensuring the money awarded in grants is spent as agreed.  This includes making phased payments and monitoring how the money has been spent before giving the next instalment.

“In our experience of making more than £800m of grants since 1985, cases of wilful misappropriation of funds are extremely rare.”

Civilsociety.co.uk was unable to contact Busoga Association for comment.

The charity says on its website that it works in Britain and Uganda to provide support to men, women and children, including helping women living in urban slums in northern Uganda.