The Welsh government has launched an investigation into the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema), which is mired in a trustee row over alleged misuse of charity funds by its chief executive.

Vice-chair of the charity Dr Sibani Roy has resigned in protest at the refusal of Awema’s chief executive Naz Malik to step down following an inquiry report commissioned by some of the trustees, which found instances of serious abuse of funds and other misconduct within the organisation. 

The inquiry was conducted by Paul Dunn, an independent investigator who is also a retired charity chief executive.

Dr Roy told civilsociety.co.uk that she had a total lack of confidence in both the chief executive and the newly-elected chair, Rita Austin, to carry forward the work of Awema.

The inquiry report, seen by civilsociety.co.uk, lists a number of allegations of misconduct against chief executive Malik.

These include extracting Awema funds for personal use; making inappropriate sexual remarks; bullying staff and causing a conflict of interest by hiring his daughter.

According to walesonline.co.uk, Malik admitted paying off a personal credit card debt of more than £9,000 with Awema money, but claimed he regarded the money as an advance on future expenses.

Dr Roy added that since her departure from the board, a further six trustees have resigned, and the financial director of Awema who blew the whistle on the irregularities at the charity, has been suspended from his job.

She has also provided a copy of the report to South Wales Police.

Civilsociety.co.uk invited Naz Malik to give his side of the story but he declined to comment.

Welsh government investigating

The Welsh government has announced that it will lead its own investigation into the charity as it has been awarded £8.4m in public money.

Awema is currently managing three projects under the European aid programme for West Wales and Valleys. The projects aim to improve the employment prospects for ethnic minorities.

Asked about the investigation on Tuesday, during questions in the Welsh Assembly, Assembly Member Jane Hutt said: "I assure Members that the Welsh government, including the Welsh European Funding Office, are co-ordinating an investigation, along with the Big Lottery Fund. It is also important to recognise that Welsh government officials have been liaising with South Wales Police regarding the allegations."

The Charity Commission is also assessing the situation.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: "The Charity Commission has received a serious incident report from the trustees of the charity the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association.

"We are currently assessing information around that report to determine what, if any, regulatory role there might be for the Commission.

"Please note that this does not mean we are investigating the charity."