The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Cowesby Trust, and frozen its bank accounts after it established that “large sums of money” were paid to an unconnected company and its only trustee.
In an announcement made today, the Commission said that after being told about regulatory concerns at the Trust it has identified “a number of serious regulatory concerns about the operation and financial management of the charity”.
It found that “large sums of money have been paid from the charity to an unconnected company and to the charity’s trustee”. It also established “a disparity between the level of funds that have flowed through the charity’s bank account” and those disclosed in its last set of annual returns.
According to the charity regulator, the Cowesby Trust is also currently operating “in breach of its governing documents”, which state that the organisation must have at least three trustees on its board. It currently has only the one trustee listed on the charity register - Hugh Morgan-Williams OBE.
Both the charity’s website, and Morgan-Williams’ personal email for the charity as listed on the register are unresponsive.
Frozen bank accounts
According to the Commission, it has made orders under section 76 of the Charities Act 2011 to freeze the organisation’s bank accounts – preventing the trustee and the charity’s bankers from “parting with any of the charity’s property” without the permission of the Commission.
The Cowesby Trust is a registered charity which has objectives to “relieve either generally or individually persons resident in the parish of Cowesby or in any neighbouring parish who are in conditions of need, hardship or distress”.
According to its last set of financial information filed with the Commission, it had an annual income of just £2,721, but total spending of £8,425. It is not required to file an annual return, as it falls below the required £10,000 threshold.
The Commission’s inquiry will examine the charity’s financial controls, management and application of charitable funds, property and assets. It will also look into the organisation administration, governance and management by the trustee(s), and whether or not the organisation’s charitable objects have been met.
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