The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to an evangelical church after a former trustee was allowed to invest - and lose – the charity’s money in foreign exchange speculation.

The regulator today announced interim manager Helen Harvie, of Barlow Robbins LLP, will take on a limited role at the Kingsway International Christian Centre, which operates a network of chapels and branches around London, the West Midlands and the Home Counties.

Current trustees will remain in place and will manage the day-to-day running of the charity. Harvie is charged with assessing whether the former board has any liability for the losses suffered by the charity resulting from the poor investments.

Kingsway International Christian Centre has been under investigation by the Commission since 2011 after former trustee Richard Rufus was permitted to put £5m of the charity’s assets into speculative foreign exchange trades, without having taken any professional advice. Rufus resigned from the board in May 2011, and since then the board was compelled to take action to secure the return of the funds. Rufus was due to return £6.9m to the charity as part of an individual voluntary arrangement, but he has since been declared bankrupt and the charity would appear unlikely to see any of the money returned.

The majority of current trustees joined the board after the issues with the governance and financial controls first surfaced, and Harvie will be working alongside the board to review whether the charity should seek further redress following the failed investments. They will also consider whether other trustees at the time have any liability for the losses.

A statement by the present KICC trustees, issued in the afternoon, said that they were fully cooperating with the Commission in its ongoing work. 

"We would like to reassure our members, the public and the Charity Commission of our ongoing and increasing commitment to our charitable objectives of advancing the Christian faith," the statement read. 

"In dealing with this matter we have and will continue to act, at all times, in an open and transparent manner. The investments totaling £5m with Mr Rufus were properly reported in our published annual accounts at the time they were made. The charity has received back £1.7m."

The trustees said that they had received profesisional advice to provide for the losses in those annual accounts. 

"In spite of the difficulties caused by these investment decisions, and while we continue to pursue the recoveryof the outstanding amount, the charity has been able to make progress. We have purchased a new headquarters, debt free, and we have continued to deliver our programmes for the public benefit."