The Charity Commission’s decision to ban four former trustees of a social housing charity has been upheld after their appeals failed.
Noble Tree Foundation had four of its trustees disqualified by the commission in January 2025, a decision the individuals appealed in September that year.
The appeals, heard collectively in August this year, failed on Friday last week when a tribunal upheld the bans, which prevent them from holding senior roles or trusteeships at any charities.
They are Harald Torbjorn Gabriel Jakob Kinde (15 years), Matthew Fearnley (12 years), Peter West (10 years) and Carmen Rodney (six years).
Fearnley had been banned for 15 years but this was reduced to 12 after the tribunal found “he was not the trustee who took the lead on finances” and showed a “meaningful indication” he had reflected on his errors.
Rodney’s prior eight-year disqualification had been reduced by the commission on review but was not reduced further by the court.
The commission first engaged with the Noble Tree Foundation in March 2022 after finding a significant increase in its reported income.
It then found further problems around “related party transactions, including potential unauthorised trustee benefit and unmanaged conflicts of interest” and opened a statutory inquiry in 2023.
The inquiry into the foundation, which entered administration in 2024 after refusing to pay rent to social housing company Home REIT over the alleged condition of its properties, is ongoing.
"We’re pleased the courts upheld our decision to disqualify all four trustees of the Noble Tree Foundation,” a commission spokesperson said.
“This was a very serious case and the length of these disqualifications reflects this fact.”
The spokesperson added that some trustees used the foundation for personal gain, “unchallenged” by others, to the detriment of its beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the Serious Fraud Office arrested six people in January connected with social housing company Home REIT, which had 143 leased properties to Noble Tree Foundation.
Almost £1m ‘misappropriated’
The commission engaged with the charity in March 2022 after noticing a huge income increase from £3,220 in the year to June 2019 to £4.24m in the period to December 2021.
It then opened a statutory inquiry into the Noble Tree Foundation in October 2023.
In June the following year, the charity entered administration after a dispute with its property fund landlord and liquidators were appointed in December last year.
Noble Tree Foundation was incorporated as a charity in 2003 to provide homes and support to more than 850 service personnel, vulnerable adults and asylum seekers.
The tribunal found that the Noble Tree Foundation’s bank card had been used to pay for meals and other expenses without legitimate receipts.
Payments of £70,000 to Kinde and Fearnley’s companies from the charity were “dishonestly and unlawfully” authorised, the tribunal ruled.
“The instances of misconduct or mismanagement set out above allowed [Kinde] to misappropriate almost £1m in [Noble Tree Foundation] funds,” the tribunal added.
Kinde was said to be the trustee “primarily responsible for the financial affairs” of the charity.
Following the tribunal’s conclusion, a commission spokesperson added that it would set out its full findings in due course.
