The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Joint Armed Forces Legal Advocacy Service (JAFLAS) over concerns that its founder and former trustee remains involved with the charity despite being disqualified.
Former solicitor Alan Blacker was banned from serving as a charity trustee in January 2020 after he was convicted of benefit fraud.
Blacker was a founding trustee of JAFLAS, a charity that provides free legal advice to people experiencing financial hardship.
He applied to the Commission for a waiver and was twice rejected before appealing to the Charity Tribunal.
In June this year, Blacker lost his appeal against the Charity Commission’s decision to ban him from serving on the board of any voluntary organisation until 2024.
However, the Commission found that in July 2022 Blacker was still listed as the director of the charity and as being a person of significant control on JAFLAS’ Companies House records.
Continued involvement ‘a criminal offence’
The regulator’s inquiry will investigate whether a disqualified individual continued to play a role in the charity. Doing so is a criminal offence that could lead to a fine or imprisonment.
This is also a serious incident, which trustees are responsible for reporting to the Commission. As such, the inquiry will investigate the three remaining trustees' decision-making.
The Commission will look into whether the charity’s objectives are being met and if the charity is operating for public benefit.
JAFLAS does not have to publish its annual accounts with the Commission because its income is less than £10,000 per annum. According to its accounts ending April 2021, it had an income of £0 and an expenditure of £394.
The inquiry will also examine the trustee’s compliance with their legal obligations for the content, preparation and submission of the charity’s accounts.
The charity did not respond to Civil Society News' request for comment while the phone number registered for the charity is inactive.
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