The Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into Kids Integrated Cancer Treatment over concerns about its links to a man jailed for theft of nearly £1m from children’s cancer funds, including one set up to support his own son.
Kevin Wright was found guilty of 10 counts of theft and two of fraud and sentenced to five years in jail in September last year, relating to fundraising appeals he set up to raise money for children with cancer. According to media reports, Wright was involved in a company set up to fund the charity.
The investigation will look at whether the charity has been used for the private benefit of some of its trustees.
It will examine payments to trustees, and the relationship between the charity and companies connected to one of the trustees, the Commission said.
According to the latest accounts filed with the Commission, KICT, registered in 2009 to an address in Wimbledon, south London, had income of £90,336 in the year to 31 January 2013, and spent £84,745. The trustees are listed as Ian Weir, Joanne Gamble and Diane Roberts.
The Commission said at the request of the police and Crown Prosecution Service, it did not engage with the charity until the criminal case was completed.
The regulator said it then began accessing possible regulatory issues connected with the charity last September and its ongoing links to Wright. Concerns were first raised with the Commission about the charity in January 2012.
After meeting with trustees and inspecting the charity’s financial documents, the Commission said it was not satisfied with the information provided. Following further analysis of accounts that led to increasing concerns about the accuracy of the information provided by the charity, the regulator opened a statutory inquiry on 29 July.
It will investigate the financial management and administration of the charity, focusing on how it worked to meet its objectives for the public benefit. KICT was set up to provide integrated cancer treatments for children by fundraising to provide financial assistance and educational information for family affected by cancer.
The inquiry will also look at whether the trustees have complied with their legal duties and responsibilities under charity law.
Wright, who lived in Devon before moving Staffordshire, set up a number of appeals for sick children and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds between 2005 and 2008. One of the funds, the Bobby Wright Cancer Fighting Fund, was set up for his son who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, neuroblastoma, in 2005.
