The Charity Commission has removed and disqualified a trustee whose connected charities were found to have altered original financial documents.
This week, the regulator published the findings of two investigations into Jesus Power House Ministries and the Centre for Skills Enhancement, two Christian charities registered in 2009 and 2006, respectively.
Both charities came under its radar in late 2022 after concerns were raised about their banking arrangements and their practice of operating with a single trustee, Onyekachi Anyanwu, for extended periods.
The charities shared similar regulatory concerns, including having the same trustee and address and operating with fewer than the three trustees required by their respective governing documents.
Launched on 16 June 2023, the investigations uncovered serious and sustained misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charities.
The reports say decisions taken by Anyanwu alone were invalid and that the failure to appoint sufficient trustees and keep accurate records shows “longstanding governance failures”.
Money transferred to personal accounts
“Significant charitable funds” from both organisations were transferred into the personal bank accounts of Anyanwu and her family members “without adequate authorisation, justification, or supporting evidence”, the reports say.
For instance, when investigating the Centre for Skills Enhancement, the regulator found that nearly £490,000 was transferred into the personal bank accounts of Anyanwu and her husband.
The funds, intended to support projects in Nigeria, were paid into personal bank accounts rather than being paid directly to suppliers for “no particular reason”.
Whilst 65% of this expenditure was accounted for, £172,000 paid to the trustee and her husband “remained unexplained as no supporting evidence was provided to demonstrate that the funds had been applied for the charity’s purposes”.
The regulator uncovered a “significant number” of altered receipts at both charities, which the trustee said had been done to “record expenditure in a different accounting year”.
Amending financial documents in this way is a “serious breach of proper accounting practice and undermines the transparency and reliability of the charity’s records”, the reports say, and amounts to misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.
At Jesus Power House Ministries, the regulator found that the charity had failed to properly account for its £652,000 gift aid claims over five years.
The report says the subsequently appointed trustees could not provide records demonstrating that the donations received were sufficient to support gift aid claims paid into the charity’s bank account.
‘Reckless’ appointment
The report into the Centre for Skills Enhancement shows that it relied on Jesus Power House Ministries for premises, funds and volunteers, often making it difficult to distinguish their activities.
The charities shared the same accountant, who produced their accounts for the financial years ending 31 December 2013 to 2021.
During this period, the accounts “consistently failed to comply with the SORP, indicating sustained shortcomings in the quality of the accountant’s work”, the report says.
Anyanwu was found to have failed to carry out basic due diligence before engaging the accountant, including checking whether he held relevant qualifications, which was “reckless”.
The regulator did not identify records confirming his qualifications or professional affiliation, showing “a failure of governance and decision-making by the trustee in this appointment, which resulted in the charity failing to account for its use of charitable funds for many years”.
Charity removed from register
While investigating the Centre for Skills Enhancement, the regulator found that it had made eight investment payments totalling £9,831 to a company in April 2020.
It said Anyanwu had undertaken these investments without proper due diligence or a risk assessment, which failed to provide any return for the charity.
She explained that she had invested this money following advice from “friends” and could not recover the funds despite requesting them back from the company.
The regulator also discovered that the Centre for Skills Enhancement was no longer active and had not been furthering its objects since late 2022.
Subsequently, it removed the charity from its register on 9 October 2025.
Given the “seriousness and persistence of the failures identified”, the regulator removed Anyanwu as a trustee and disqualified her from future trusteeship.
Civil Society has contacted Jesus Power House Ministries for comment, which continues to operate with a board of four trustees, all appointed last year.
