The Charity Commission has opened investigations into two charities funding educational institutes in Israel, after concerns including the use of blank cheques.
Its statutory inquiries will look into the Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust and the Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust. Both charities’ incomes are between £600,000 and £700,000, according to the regulator’s records.
The charities, which share trustees, were registered in 1987 and 1991 respectively and raise funds for faith institutes in Israel.
Current concerns relate to financial management and controls within the charities, after the regulator discovered that one trustee, who lives in Israel, is in possession of the charities’ cheque books containing a number of blank cheques pre-signed by the trustees who live in the UK.
The Commission said the charities also operate heavily in cash, which the regulator advises against, overseas and do not maintain adequate records to supplement this.
It said the trustees could not provide sufficient evidence that they were monitoring or verifying the end use of the charities’ funds overseas.
The Commission opened inquiries into the two charities on 17 July 2023, which will examine the administration, governance, and management of the charities by the trustees, the financial controls and management of the charities, and the conduct of the trustees.
Following the opening of the inquiries, the Commission prohibited the trustees from carrying out several financial transactions, which include withdrawing charitable funds in cash and pre-signing cheques.
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