The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened an inquiry into Keren Chochmas Shloma Trust (registered charity number 1153549).
The charity is established to advance the orthodox Jewish faith through the provision of grants.
The charity failed to meaningfully engage with the Commission's multiple attempts to address concerns about the charity's finances, so the Commission's investigation has escalated from a regulatory compliance case to a statutory inquiry.
Concerns
The Commission has identified concerns regarding the charity's financial management, including potential expenditure outside the charity's objects, potential unauthorised trustee benefit and a failure by the trustees to comply with their statutory duty to file accounting information with the Commission.
The charity is currently overdue in submitting its accounting information for the financial years ending 31 December 2022, 2023 and 2024. These are flagged as overdue on the charity's record on the Register of Charities.
Some trustees have also failed to comply with legally binding Orders of the Commission compelling them to provide information.
Scope of the inquiry
The inquiry will examine the extent to which the trustees are complying or have complied with their legal duties in respect of the administration, governance and management of the charity, with particular regard to:
the charity's financial management, including the charity's viability, whether the charity has fully applied its expenditure in furtherance of the charity's purposes and the extent of any unauthorised trustee personal benefit
the trustees' failure to file the charity's accounting information with the Commission
the extent to which any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity are a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees
The scope of the inquiry can be extended if additional regulatory issues emerge.
It is the Commission's policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing the issues examined, any action taken, and the inquiry's outcomes.
