The Charity Commission has removed the Mahfouz Foundation from its register as it continues to investigate allegations around a donation intended for the King’s Foundation.
It opened a statutory inquiry into the Mahfouz Foundation in 2021 over allegations that it received donations intended for the then-named Prince’s Foundation, set up by King Charles.
While this inquiry is ongoing, the Mahfouz Foundation was removed from the register on 6 October, according to the Official Custodian for Charities’ recently-filed annual accounts.
The accounts show that the Custodian held £7,500 from the Mahfouz Foundation on 31 March this year under an order that required these funds to be paid to it.
A police investigation into cash-for-honours claims involving the then-named Prince’s Foundation closed last year.
Allegations investigated
The Mahfouz Foundation, whose charitable aims included the promotion of the history and culture of the Middle East, was linked to allegations first published in the Sunday Times about attempts to use donations to influence the then heir to the throne.
It alleged that the Russian businessman Dmitry Leus had tried to donate £200,000 to the Prince’s Foundation, after being put in touch with Michael Fawcett (its CEO at the time).
His gift was subsequently rejected. Leus had been convicted of money laundering in Russia before the conviction was overturned.
The donation is alleged to have then been sent via the Mahfouz Foundation, without Leus’s knowledge and obscuring the origins of the money.
Inquiry ongoing
The Commission announced in November 2021 that it has opened an inquiry into the Mahfouz Foundation and donations it received that were intended for another charity.
It also revealed that it had been engaging with trustees at the Mahfouz Foundation since the Sunday Times first published claims that it had received donations intended for the Prince’s Foundation.
At the time, it said its inquiry would examine whether the Mahfouz Foundation received these donations as alleged, how the money had been used, and whether or not it should be returned to the donor or another charity.
The Commission added it would look at financial controls at the charity and whether the trustees have worked “in line with charity law”.
The Mahfouz Foundation was founded by Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz.
Its website is no long accessible, and Civil Society was unable to contact anyone formerly at the organisation.
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