The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic UK, registered charity number 1047717. The inquiry was opened on 22 March 2017.
The charity has objects to advance the Christian religion through the church.
In 2016 the charity was included in the Commission’s class inquiry which tackles charities that have failed to comply with their statutory obligations to submit their annual accounts for 2 or more financial years. Although the charity submitted its outstanding accounting information to the class inquiry last year, it has again failed to comply with its legal obligations to file accounts and the accounts for the year ending March 2016 are now overdue.
As a result of its engagement, the Commission has identified further serious regulatory concerns regarding the charity’s financial controls and governance, which will be examined as a part of the statutory inquiry.
The inquiry will examine:
- the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity and in particular: their compliance with legal obligations for the preparation and filing of the charity’s accounts and other information or returns
- the charity’s financial management including its financial controls and the extent to which the charity’s interests and property have been adequately protected
- the extent to which the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance
- related party transactions
The charity was previously subject to a compliance case after a significant amount of funds were misappropriated by a trustee, and the case report concluding the findings can be viewed on GOV.UK.
It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.
The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.
Ends
PR 35/17
Notes to editors
- The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
- Search for charities on our online register.
- Details of how the Commission reports on its regulatory work can be found on GOV.UK.
- Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
- The Commission’s decision to announce the opening of a statutory inquiry is based on whether it is in the public interest to do so and with consideration of our objective to increase public trust and confidence in charities.
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