The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a charity after almost £20,000 in cash was seized from a trustee who was stopped attempting to leave the country.
Leicester-based charity Aid for the Need and Oppressed (ANO) became a registered charity in 2013 and is a poverty relief organisation which has organised aid convoys to Syria.
One of its trustees was stopped by UK Ports Officers in December 2016 and £19,300 in cash belonging to the charity was seized.
The money is now subjected to a cash detention order and the charity submitted a serious incident report to the Charity Commission in January 2017.
The regulator then obtained copies of the charities bank statements, and “identified a number of regulatory concerns which warrant further investigation”.
The investigation will consider the financial controls at the charity, conduct of trustees and whether the charity has complied with charity law.
Earlier this year the Commission issued an alert strongly advising charities against the use of cash couriers.
Fundraising for Syria
ANO’s accounts for the year ending March show the charity had an income of £78,000 and spent £61,000. At that time it had almost £28,000 held in a bank account.
The charity’s website indicates that it is raising money for projects in Syria, Somaliland, Gaza, Togo and Benin as well as refugee support. It says its activity is “rooted from our Islamic faith”.
It says it has a "100 per cent donation policy", and uses the profits from its charity shop, and donations specifically for administration and gift aid to cover its running costs.
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