An investigation by the Charity Commission into the Nottingham-based Muslim Foundation UK has led to a former trustee being disqualified for a 10-year period.
Pir Afzal Qadri praised the murder of a Pakistani politician, called for violent uprisings against the Pakistani government, and issued “edicts of death” against judges in the country.
The Charity Commission issued a disqualification order against the former trustee last August, as part of a regulatory case involving the charity.
Following the disqualification, the Commission conducted a compliance visit which identified serious regulatory concerns regarding the governance and administration of the charity. The statutory inquiry was opened on 28 January 2020.
The charity runs a place of worship with educational facilities for Muslims and non-Muslims in Nottingham.
In an inquiry report published today, the regulator is highly critical of the charity, finding its trustees failed to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities in a range of areas.
Charity failed to put adequate policies in place to protect children
The report finds that the charity failed to put adequate policies in place to protect children attending supplementary educational classes operated by the charity.
It says the charity’s child protection policy “was generic and out of date”, and that the trustees were unable to provide evidence that the policy was applied appropriately in practice.
The inquiry received a copy of the charity’s child protection policy, which makes reference to “Criminal Records Bureau” checks. This suggested the policy had not been updated for some time. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) replaced the Criminal Records Bureau in 2012.
In June 2020, during the drafting of the report, a DBS certificate for one of the trustees was provided. This shows the date of issue was 9 September 2019, one day prior to the Commission’s visit.
The report states that the single DBS certificate did not change the inquiry’s findings or conclusions in respect of safeguarding.
The charity owed more than £100k to individuals in its community
During the Commission’s investigations, it found that the charity owed more than £100k to individuals in its community through undocumented, unsecured interest-free loans. If all or a majority of the loans were called in, the Commission found, the charity’s property would be at risk.
Data for the financial year ending 30 November 2018 puts the charity's income at £22.4k and spending at £26.4k.
The inquiry found that the trustees had failed to submit an annual return and annual accounts within 10 months of the financial year end for the financial years ending 30 November 2016 and 2017. They were 116 and 27 days late respectively.
The regulator also states that the charity was “unable to provide sufficient documentation related to thousands of pounds expended overseas, and transferred funds using methods outside of the regulated banking sector, which is strongly discouraged”.
The investigation found that the trustees were not able to demonstrate they had complied with their legal duties with regard to accounting for and protecting the charity’s assets.
Trustees failed to recognise the seriousness of the comments
The report finds that the trustees, many of whom had personal links to Qadri, failed to recognise the seriousness of his comments, and did not take appropriate action.
It says that in a meeting on 10 September 2019, “the trustee in attendance did not recognise or consider the significance of the comments”.
The inquiry found that conflicts of interest “were an aggravating factor in the trustees’ failure to act”.
At the time the comments were made, only one trustee was independent of the individual, and familial links between the trustees and the individual “may have led to a more lenient attitude”.
Four out of five trustees prior to the inquiry opening were directly related to the disqualified trustee.
‘They failed to take seriously the reprehensible public statements made by one of their fellow trustees’
Indeed, the Commission is critical of the trustees’ engagement with its inquiry, finding that they failed to comply with repeated requests for evidence and documentation.
In March, it ordered the trustees to take action in a number of areas to address these failings and to ensure compliance with their legal duties and responsibilities, including by conducting a governance review, reviewing the charity’s child protection policy, and agreeing and implementing new policies around finances, conflicts of interest and the monitoring of application of funds.
The charity will remain under statutory supervision until the Commission is satisfied that the order has been complied with in full.
Tim Hopkins, assistant director for investigations and inquiries at the Charity Commission, said:“This charity has been mismanaged by its trustees over a number of years. They failed to take seriously the reprehensible public statements made by one of their fellow trustees, and have since been unable to provide evidence of having complied with some of their most basic legal duties and responsibilities.
“The trustees must now enact significant improvements to their systems, policies and processes. We will be monitoring their compliance with these actions and they are required to report to us on their progress”.
