A charity trustee has been banned for four years after an investigation into her charity found misconduct and mismanagement, including an unexplained payment to the dominant trustee.
A Charity Commission inquiry report, published at the end of last year, found widespread misconduct and management at Deen Team, a Manchester-based charity which participated in aid convoys to Syria. This included a £2,000 payment to Tabbasam Mustafa, who the regulator said was deferred to at all times by other trustees, which could not be adequately explained from the charity's records. Another former trustee used a charity property while paying only a nominal rent.
The Commission had initially looked into the charity in 2014 because it was operating in Syria, a high-risk area, and issued advice and guidance after a number of shortcomings. The charity failed to file appropriate documents and the Commission found it had not followed the advice and guidance. The regulator opened an inquiry into 2016.
The Commission found that the charity was not keeping proper records and had not held trustee meetings. Mustafa consistently failed to respond to the regulator and failed to comply with five separate legal orders.
As a result of the misconduct and mismanagement identified in the inquiry, the Commission disqualified Mustafa from being a charity trustee, or holding a senior management position within a charity, for four years.
The charity has ceased to operate and has been removed from the register.
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