The Charity Commission is looking into the activities of Aid Convoy, after reports that police seized more than £40,000 in cash from men believed to be travelling out of the country on behalf of the charity.

Cash in three currencies (£36,066, €1,400 and $10,600) was confiscated on 23 December 2012 at the port of Dover. Kent Police described the money as “the subject of an ongoing investigation”, and said that it was taken from “various individuals travelling together at the time through the Port of Dover towards the Middle East”.

A national newspaper this weekend reported that the individuals were travelling on behalf of registered charity Aid Convoy, however Kent Police would not confirm or deny this, saying that the newspaper had reached its conclusions as part of its own undercover investigation.

Aid Convoy itself could not be reached for comment, but a Commission spokeswoman told civilsociety.co.uk that the regulator has an “ongoing case“ into the charity, although it has not opened a statutory inquiry as of yet.

The spokeswoman also revealed that the Commission has an ongoing monitoring case into Aid Convoy regarding trustees duties regarding the end use of charitable funds.

"We have been engaged with the charity prior to its registration with us", she said. "We were aware of the launch of the charitable appeal in the name of 'Aid Convoy 2 Syria' in March 2012 and at that time corresponded and met with its organisers.

"The purpose of this was to advise the organisers of their legal duties as trustees of charitable funds and of the requirement for charities to register. In September 2012 the charity 'Aid Convoy' (formerly Aid Convoy 2 Syria) was registered with the Commission."

The spokeswoman added that the Commission is assessing whether any issues of regulatory concern arise in relation to the charities in receipt of funds from Syria Aid, which is not a registered charity but is affiliated with Aid Convoy.

“During the course of our intervention, we expect to clarify whether Syria Aid is charitable in law and ought therefore to be registered,” she said.

On its entry on the Charity Commission website, Aid Convoy describes its charitable objects as relief to victims in the form of money or other means who are the victims of war or natural disaster. It states that it operates in Bangladesh, Burma, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria and Turkey.

As a newly-registered charity, no financial information is available yet.

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