The Charity Commission has frozen the bank accounts of two grant-giving charities and opened statutory inquiries where a trustee has been loaned £500,000.
Jeffrey Davidson and Alexandra Davidson are both trustees at The Jalloh Charitable Trust and at The Deacons Charitable Trust, which are also registered to the same address on the Commission’s register.
The two trustees are potentially related by marriage, which it said would present “unmanageable conflicts of interest”.
The relationship called “into question whether key decisions have been made in the best interests of the charities or for the private benefit of the trustees”, according to the Commission.
£500,000 loans to trustees
The Commission found that the independent examination of accounts had also been compromised and inconsistently applied at the two trusts.
The inquiry into The Jalloh Charitable Trust was opened on 21 May when the Commission became concerned over its failure to submit annual accounting information.
The accounts showed transactions of over £500,000 in loans to a trustee and purchases of ‘a valuable collection of Judaica and other antique silver’ from a trustee.
The inquiry into The Deacons Charitable Trust was opened on 14 June and a review of its accounts showed loans over £150,000 were given to a trustee.
There were also several payments totalling over £17,000 which the Commission said may have gone on school fees for someone connected to the trustees.
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