A Scottish council is looking into concerns about a charity was accused of donating just £137,000 of its £1m income to good causes last year.
This weekend an article in the Sunday Post accused the charity, Scotia Aid Sierra Leone, of giving just 13p of every £1 it raises to good causes. The investigation by South Lanarkshire Council was prompted by information recieved from the Sunday Post on Scotia Aid Sierra Leone.
The charity, which was set up five years ago by a “small team of businessmen”, aims to improve the lives of people in Sierra Leone through educational and social programmes.
According to the charity’s details on OSCR, the Scottish charity regulator’s website, it had an income of £1.02m for the year ending March 2014. OSCR currently does not hold accounts on its website, but details from the accounts, including that they were given to the regulator to be checked late, can be viewed.
Of the total expenditure, £509,147 was attributed to “cost of generating voluntary funds”, while only £332,734 was spent on “grants and donations”. The “cost of charitable activities” was £170,490, and “governance costs” £5,400.
The investigation by the Sunday Post, which received the charity’s accounts following a Freedom of Information request, also revealed that three bosses paid themselves £313,000 from the charity’s finances, and used “shell companies to minimise their tax bill”.
The paper also claims to have spoken to whistleblowers who said the “trio use their income to fund lavish lifestyles that are in sharp contrast to the children they claim to help”. And that another £313,000 went on consultancy fees to five companies associated with the charity’s founder and two trustees. It also claims trustees were “also handed travel expenses of £43,314”.
A spokesman for South Lanarkshire Council said: “The council can confirm that we are investigating the allegations regarding Scotia Aid. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further until those investigations are concluded.”
A spokesman from OSCR could not confirm if the regulator was investigating the charity. He said: “We would not comment on investigations into individual charities.”
A spokesman from Glasgow City Council said that it is also investigating the charity over allegations first bought to the council's attention by the Sunday Post of improper claiming of rates relief on properties in Glasgow.
The charity was approached for comment, but had not replied at the time of publication. It also had not responded to a request to see the charity’s full annual report.
