Charity Commission issues official warning over governance failures

09 Feb 2018 News

Charity Commission's London offices

The Charity Commission has issued an official warning to an Islamic charity in Berkshire after finding misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity.

The Commission opened an inquiry into the Islamic Trust (Maidenhead) in April 2017 after trustees failed to file documents on time, and inspected books and records. It found the charity had not made appropriate records.

The charity had already previously been part of a class inquiry into charities which failed to file documents on time.

In an inquiry report published today, the Commission concluded that the trustees did not properly discharge their duties under charity law, and in December 2017 the Commission used its official powers under the Charities Act 2016 to issue the charity with an official warning.

The warning sets out that the trustees must take all reasonable steps to ensure that future statutory returns are submitted on time.

Michelle Russell, director of investigations, monitoring and enforcement at the Commission, said: "Keeping detailed financial records and filing accounts on time is crucial to being able to evidence your charity’s effectiveness to donors, beneficiaries and the regulator.

“It’s also necessary to show that charitable funds are being spent on legitimate causes. In this case there were clear failings in the charity’s financial management and overall governance.”

              
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