The trustee of a charity which was used as a cover to allow the illegal entry of Indian nationals into the UK has been disqualified from being involved with charities by the Charity Commission.
The regulator has permanently removed the trustee, the only one at the charity, from his role, and closed the charity, according to its inquiry report published today.
The charity had been used as a conduit for immigration fraud, with the charity sponsoring individuals as ministers for religion, while funds were circulated through the charitiess bank accounts to further the appearance that the charity was receiving legitimate donations.
Commission informed by Home Office
The Home Office Immigration and Enforcement Criminal Investigations Team informed the Commission in 2013 that it had opened a criminal investigation into the charity as it suspected it was being abused to allow illegal entry of Indian nationals into the UK for a fee.
The trustee, Ravinder Singh, 57, of Higher Lane, Whitefield, who worked as a mortgage advisor and carried out genuine charitable works, despite the fraud, was jailed for 27 months last year. He admitted three charges of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration halfway through a Manchester Crown Court trial, the Manchester Evening News reported at the time.
In November 2013 four individuals were arrested in relation to the ongoing investigation, one who was a trustee of the charity. In 2014, the trustee was re-interviewed and a file submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration. The Commission opened its own “to assess the regulatory concerns arising from the use of the charity to fraudulently sponsor Indian nationals into the UK to the private financial benefit” to the trustee.
The Commission investigated whether the charity was set up and registered for an improper purpose, and whether it was being used as a conduit to launder money.
It also looked at whether trustees had personally benefitted, whether they had misapplied charitable funds for an improper or criminal purpose, and whether trustees had complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities in the proper administration of the charity.
‘A significant breach of trust’
The inquiry found that the charity had been used as a conduit to facilitate immigration fraud, and that the single trustee had been paid large sums of money by migrants in order to assist their entry into the UK and their continued stay. As well as unlawful activity, the Commission said that there had been a significant breach of trust.
It said that the charity had failed to provide sufficient records to explain transactions or demonstrate that appropriate financial controls were in place in order to protect charitable assets. It also said that potentially false and misleading information was provided to the Commission in relation to trustees’ details provided in the charity’s annual returns, and that the trustee did not properly discharge his legal duties.
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Carl Mehta, head of investigations and enforcement at the Commission, said: “We work closely with law enforcement agencies to prevent and disrupt abuse of charities. In this case we were able to share information with the Home Office Immigration and Enforcement Criminal Investigations Team and support the successful prosecution of an individual who was benefiting from this disgraceful abuse of charitable status.”
It said that at the time of registering in 2008, the Commission had been satisfied that the criteria for registering a charity had been met.
The Commission suspended the trustee in 2015, and then removed hm in 2016. It used its power to remove the charity from the register in February 2016 as it is no longer operating.
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