The Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into an armed forces charity after it failed to provide records to account for thousands of pounds in income and expenditure.
An independent examiner, Helena Wilkinson from Price Bailey, wrote in Forgotten Veterans UK’s accounts for the financial year to November 2021 that no records have been provided to match £151,000 in donations and £89,000 in expenditure.
The Portsmouth-based charity has had a high turnover of senior personnel this year, with all five of its current trustees joining in 2023.
Meanwhile, the charity’s co-founder, chief executive and former trustee Gary Weaving has stepped back from his duties after he was arrested due to alleged harassment and exposure last month before being released on bail.
Forgotten Veterans UK’s chair, Tony Reid, who founded the charity with Weaving in 2016, said he was “confident that there is not any misappropriation of funds” in the accounts, which were filed 279 days late.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We have opened a regulatory compliance case to assess concerns raised with us about Forgotten Veterans.”
Income and expenditure ‘without supporting records’
Wilkinson raised concerns about whether cash donations had been properly accounted for in the charity’s financial reporting.
Her report reads: “The receipts and payments accounts prepared for the CIO show cash received in the year of £151,903, however no records have been provided to match the record of the donations received to the deposits made of cash deposited, and cash balances may have been retained and not deposited at the CIO’s bank account.”
The only written record provided is an agreement for a restricted grant for £45,000, she wrote. Wilkinson said the lack of financial reporting meant she could not be certain the charity’s expenditure was made in line with the grant agreement.
Total expenditure amounted to £143,000 but receipts for only £54,000 were available, according to the report, leaving £89,000 without supporting records.
“The majority of the expenditure was made from the bank account, authorised and paid for by the CEO but limited receipts were provided to me as independent examiner”, the report says.
“The opening bank balance position per the receipts and payment for 2020 is different by £1,241 to the bank statements for which no explanation is available and the amount is showing as sundry expenditure in the receipts and payments in 2021.”
The examiner also notes that none of the charity’s minutes had been recorded for the year.
‘We are confident that there is no misappropriation of funds’
Tony Reid, Forgotten Veterans UK’s chair, founded the charity with Weaving in 2016 but left in 2019 for health reasons before returning in January this year.
He told Civil Society that earlier this year, all of the trustees including Weaving resigned apart from Reid which prompted him to contact the Charity Commission in February.
“Initially, we went to the Commission ourselves because of the situation we found ourselves in. So, they’ve been very helpful with guidance and advice,” he said.
Reid went onto say that he and the board were confident that there had been no misappropriation of funds at the charity, but expressed concern that records were not kept properly.
Four trustees joined Reid on the charity’s board this month.
“We are confident that there is not any misappropriation of funds. From the accounts, it seems like £80-£90,000 are unaccounted for but it is accounted for and there are receipts for it,” he said.
“I believe they are with the accountants now but at the time they did not have it in their possession.
“The board of trustees, we don’t have any concerns about the accounts. The only concern I have about the accounts is that the records were not kept as accurately as they should have been. I think some people didn't understand the importance of an audit trail. We’ve now implemented lots of new systems.”
CEO released on bail
The news comes after the Sun reported that co-founder and chief executive of the charity Weaving was arrested due to alleged harassment and exposure last month.
A police spokesperson told the paper: “A 43-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of harassment and exposure.
“This comes after a woman in her 50s reported to us that a man had indecently exposed himself to her.
“It was also reported that the same man had made inappropriate comments to the woman on a number of occasions, beginning in November 2021.
“The man has been released on conditional police bail while our enquiries continue.”
Weaving told the newspaper: “I’m innocent. This is clearly an organised coup and hate campaign.”
Portsmouth Police told Civil Society that Weaving is still on bail until 24 August.
Reid said he was unable to comment on the ongoing investigation, but said Weaving had stepped away from the charity and ceased all duties as CEO.
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