The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a Christian charity that broadcasts television programmes from Spain following allegations that the charity was being used for private advantage.

The Commission is investigating the Revelation Foundation after scrutiny of the charity’s accounts. This follows complaints received from members of the public in March 2014.

The Commission said it identified regulatory concerns which include “potential significant loss of charitable funds, trustee benefits, conflicts of interest and connected party transactions”.

The Commission has said its concerns are primarily in relation to the production and broadcasting of television programmes from Spain, as well as the trustees’ decisions to transfer significant charitable assets and funds from the UK to Spain.

The charity operates Revelation TV, a 24 hour Christian television channel which broadcasts to the UK, Europe and worldwide.

In a statement, the trustees of the Revelation Foundation said they are confident that the inquiry will conclude that the Commission’s concerns are entirely unfounded.

It said that the charity, which last year had an average income of just under £1.7m, is being administered in full compliance with the Commission’s guidelines and that they welcome they inquiry and will be cooperating fully.

The trustees said: “Since learning in May of the complaints the Commission has received, the Foundation has re-examined its internal processes and consulted external accountants and lawyers to ensure that it is run according to the highest standards of integrity and care. In particular there has been no loss or misapplication of charitable funds.”

The inquiry will examine the charity’s structure including its relationships, and transactions entered into, with several commercial organisations, and whether these are in the charity’s best interests.

It will also look at transactions between the charity and its trustees, former trustees, individuals and companies connected to the trustees and former trustees since 2009.  It will also examine the “administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees with specific regard to how conflicts of interest have been dealt with and managed”.

Finally, it will look at the charity’s fundraising activities and whether or not the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities under charity law.

The Commission has said that the purpose of the inquiry is to ascertain whether there has been “misconduct or mismanagement” and establish the extent of the risk’s to the charity’s property, beneficiaries or work. It will decide what action needs to be taken to resolve the serious concerns and, if necessary, use its legal powers to do so.