A charity trustee was jailed for seven years after he sold a property belonging to his organisation, pocketed more than £600,000 himself and failed to repay the money, according to a Charity Commission inquiry report published today.

Nehad Gamal-Eldin, a trustee of a London-based charity, the Egyptian Community Association in the UK, pleaded guilty to theft in November 2012, following a Charity Commission inquiry in 2011.

He was jailed for three years and in September 2013 was ordered to pay £703,000. He failed to pay the debt by the given deadline and was sentenced to a further four years. He was also barred from trusteeship.

The Charity Commission became involved in the association following a dispute over plans to replace an unincorporated foundation called the Egyptian Community Association in the UK with a company of the same name. It received complaints from people connected to the foundation, who said they had not agreed to the creation of the new charity or the sale of the building.

The Commission intervened and developed a plan for the trustees of the two charities to work together. But during the investigation, it established that Gamal-Eldin had sold a property belonging to the company charity, 100 Redcliffe Gardens, in Kensington, London and transferred £627,000 to two personal bank accounts.

The incorporated charity was closed down and all funds were transferred to the unincorporated association.

Michelle Russell, head of investigations and enforcement at the Commission, said: “The sentence given to the trustee sends a clear signal that abuse of charities will not go unpunished and the additional years of imprisonment that were handed down demonstrate that failure to return charitable funds is also taken very seriously by the courts.

"This was a case where we referred our suspicions to the police - we are pleased that they took up our referral and that a conviction was secured. The Commission is not a prosecuting authority but this is a clear example of how we work with others to make sure criminal abuse of charities gets pursued.”