{"id":77591,"date":"2016-12-27T10:57:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T10:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=1a34f4cadaf7ab2b005fd09ce5747413"},"modified":"2016-12-27T10:57:28","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T10:57:28","slug":"press-release-inquiry-finds-lack-of-charitable-activity-and-poor-financial-controls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=77591","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Inquiry finds lack of charitable activity and poor financial controls"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Charity Commission today announced the results of its inquiry<\/a> into REDAID<\/a> (former registered charity number 1108615).<\/p>\n

The Commission gathered evidence that the charity was acting outside its objects and that there were financial irregularities in the way that it operated its bank account. The Commission attempted to resolve these issues by issuing the charity with a formal action plan in March 2010. The trustees however failed to cooperate and following significant engagement with them, as a result the Commission opened an inquiry on 9 December 2011.<\/p>\n

The charity was advertising a loan to charity scheme on its website called \u2018Re-Give\u2019 which was set up as an Industrial and Provident Society and registered with the Financial Services Authority. It was intended to be an online platform where UK organisations with a social purpose could publicise their activities and invite \u2018returnable donations\u2019 or loans directly from the public. The Commission found that the charity\u2019s activity in developing this scheme may not have been exclusively charitable. The inquiry found a lack of other charitable activity.<\/p>\n

The inquiry found failures of governance and management within the charity with a failure to keep adequate records of the charity\u2019s decision making. In the inquiry\u2019s view there was only one trustee (the chair of the charity) with effective control of the charity. The trustees were not able to show satisfactory evidence of adequate financial controls, with a lack of segregation of charitable funds from personal funds and evidence that personal funds had been paid through the charity\u2019s accounts to enhance the charity\u2019s cash flow when applying for grants.<\/p>\n

The Commission\u2019s inquiry, in a report published today,<\/a> concluded that there were serious governance and management failings at the charity. There was evidence of serious mismanagement and misconduct within the charity and that the trustees had failed in their duties and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

The inquiry\u2019s conclusions included:<\/p>\n