Arrests made in charity fraud probe
Two arrests have been made over the alleged misuse of donated charitable funds at a national anti-grooming charity based in Birmingham.
A man, aged 38, and a 49-year-old woman were detained by officers from West Midlands Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit in connection with alleged fraud offences at Sikh Youth UK.
West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit made the arrests after examining items taken during property searches in September.
The Charity Commission has been working with the police on its own inquiry, which began in November.
It said: “The commission exercised its powers under Section 52 of the Charities Act 2011 to obtain copies of bank statements. The commission’s analysis of the information obtained to date has identified a number of regulatory concerns which warrant further investigation.”
The inquiry is examining:
whether those in control of charitable funds have properly exercised their legal duties and responsibilities under charity law in the administration of charitable funds held by the organisation;
the financial management of the organisation;
whether there has been private benefit to the trustees of the organisation;
the organisation’s partnerships with other charities;
the conduct of the trustees
Though the organisation is not a charity, the commission said it had “jurisdiction to investigate due to the funds being charitable”.
The inquiry will also examine the organisation’s status in order to determine whether it is a charity in law.
On its website Sikh Youth UK describes itself as a national organisation “raising awareness on social evils and supporting the victims of sexual grooming, substance abuse and domestic violence within the community”.
