Charity criticised by Commission after trustees lost track of £200,000

23 Mar 2017 News

The Charity Commission has ordered trustees to make changes after discovering that they were unable to account for more than £200,000 of charity income.

The Charity Commission looked into the Ipswich Kurdish Islamic Cultural Centre in 2015 because its accounts were 150 days overdue, and later received a complaint from the local council. It launched

The Commission found the charity had made a zero-interest £20,000 loan to beneficiaries and unauthorised payments of £1,360 to a trustee. It also had no safeguarding policy despite running classes for children.

The inquiry also found that the charity had banked £207,000 more than appeared in financial records, and trustees were unable to account for it. The charity’s internal records did not match either the bank statements or the published accounts.

It said there was clear evidence of misconduct or mismanagement.

The Commission said it has “made an order requiring the trustees to complete a number of actions to address the failings and regulatory concerns identified” and promised to take further regulatory action if the trustees failed to comply with the order.

Michelle Russell, director of investigations monitoring and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: “Our inquiry into the Ipswich Kurdish Islamic Cultural Centre found serious problems and basic failures.

“Trustees must comply with their charity’s governing document and the law and must manage their charity’s resources responsibly. That hasn’t always happened at this charity, putting it at risk of not being able to carry out its charitable purposes.

“I now hope the trustees take the necessary steps we have set out in our Order to improve the charity’s governance in the future.”

 

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