The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into the Kogan Academy of Dramatic Arts after it failed to comply with an official warning over its accounts.
The regulator issued the charity with a warning last March after it failed to file its accounts for the financial years 2019, 2020 and 2021.
It was also advised to have the “correct” number of trustees in place – at least three.
According to the Commission’s website, the charity only has one trustee, Alexander Michael Dower.
The charity’s latest accounts available on the regulator’s website are for the year ending July 2019. These were filed 653 days late.
The accounts display a total income of £190,857 alongside total expenditure of £327,792.
Independent examiner raised concerns last year
The charity’s accounts for the financial year July 2019, which were filed in 2022, show the independent examiner raised “matters of concern” due to the charity owing over £250,000.
The examiner, accountant Asim Manzoor, said that he did not receive sufficient records for payments during the year.
“We have relied on bank records to produce the accounts and are unable to determine balances owed as at the 31 July 2019 with any certainty”, the report said.
Manzoor wrote that the accountants were “unable to agree payments made to the head of school of £50,015”.
The examiner said that the charity owed £197,000 on 1 February 2022 due to its operating lease for its current premises. Loans owed to HSBC at its year-end amounted to £73,000.
Unless the lease is “surrendered successfully” then the charity will not be able to continue, the examiner wrote last year.
The inquiry
The regulator wrote that it has had no indication that the charity intends to follow the instructions set out in the official warning.
In response, it has escalated its engagement with the charity to a statutory inquiry.
The inquiry will investigate whether the trustees are complying with their legal duties in regard to their administration and governance responsibilities; in particular in regard to filing accounts.
The regulator will examine the extent to which any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity were a result of misconduct or mismanagement by the trustees.
It will also investigate the future of the charity and its viability.
The charity did not respond to Civil Society's requests for comment. Its phone number is not in service.
