A charity supporting armed forces veterans plans to close while an investigation into accounting concerns at the organisation continues, the regulator has confirmed.
The Charity Commission opened a compliance case into Forgotten Veterans UK (FVUK) last May due to concerns over its accounts for the year ending October 2021, which failed to provide records for £151,000 in donations and £89,000 in expenditure.
Since then, FVUK filed accounts for 2021-22, which include a section from an auditor that calls the charity’s bookkeeping “very poor” and states that they are awaiting receipts for two payments worth more than £12,000.
However, the auditor writes: “Although the bookkeeping is very poor, it is in my opinion that the expenditure within the accounts is in line with the nature of the charity.”
FVUK has now informed the Commission of its intention to close, said the regulator, which updated its guidance on how to close a charity this month.
Missing receipts
The Commission’s intervention came after the charity’s former chief executive and co-founder Gary Weaving was arrested over allegations of harassment and exposure.
Subsequently, Weaving stepped away from the charity and ceased all duties as CEO. Portsmouth Police said that Weaving was released without charge and no further action was taken.
FVUK was founded by Weaving and the sole remaining trustee Tony Reid in 2016. Reid stepped away from the charity in 2019 for health reasons, he told Civil Society last year, before returning last January.
Last year, Reid told Civil Society he was “confident that there is not any misappropriation of funds” in the 2020-21 accounts, which were filed 279 days late.
In August 2023, the charity published a since-deleted social media post stating that it had suspended all of its operations due to “reputational damage”.
FVUK did not respond to a request for comment.
