The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to a London-based charity, the Islamic Centre of England, due to trustees’ “failure to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities and their failure to protect the charity’s assets”.
It has been the subject of a statutory inquiry by the regulator since November 2022.
On 4 May, the Commission appointed an interim manager to the charity, which aims to advance the religion of Islam and promote education and welfare in the Muslim community.
Emma Moody of Womble Bond Dickinson, the appointed interim manager, will have all the powers and duties of the charity’s trustees, and is appointed to the exclusion of the current trustees.
As part of the appointment, she will conduct a review of the charity’s governance and administration and make recommendations to the Commission based on her findings.
Previously, the security minister Tom Tugendhat branded the charity a “vile threat” and last year the Times reported that the regulator was looking into a speech made by one of the charity’s trustees.
The trustee reportedly described protesters in Iran as “soldiers of Satan” and condemned women who remove their hijabs as spreading “poison”.
The Commission issued an official warning after two events held at the charity’s premises in 2020 that eulogised Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US air strike and subject to UK sanctions.
A follow-up case in 2021 concluded that the charity was only partially compliant with the actions set out in the warning and identified further regulatory concerns.
Fraser: ‘We need to act robustly’
Orlando Fraser, chair of the Commission, said: “We need to act robustly where serious concerns about a charity exist, so that the public, and the charity sector itself, can have confidence in what it means to have charitable status.
“The investigators leading this inquiry are assessing all information thoroughly. The appointment of an interim manager will help the Commission ensure the charity’s governance is restored and is improved to a better standard.”
Civil Society has contacted the charity for comment.
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