The Charity Commission has criticised the former trustees of a charity with connections in Syria for failing to act on its previous warnings over using personal bank accounts to transfer funds overseas.

Following a monitoring case six years ago the regulator had issued trustees at Olive Grove Foundation with guidance over its financial controls, including the use of their accounts to move money abroad.

But after a follow up probe launched in 2021 the Commission found that regulatory advice issues “had not been adhered to” and concerns over the use of personal bank accounts was “ongoing”.

When this investigation was launched the charity had three trustees, Mohammed Bhaiyat and Yaseen Rehman, who served until last year, and Sahad Khan, who served until 2023.

Between January 2018 and May 2020 trustees at the charity allowed the transfer of three quarters of the charity’s spending, totalling more than £151,000 to Bhaiyat’s personal account “to facilitate overseas transfers via a regulated international money transfer company”, found the Commission,

It also found that the trustees “failed to provide any evidence to explain why they did not use the charity’s bank account to make transfers directly to the international money transfer company, nor did the inquiry receive information showing why such payments were not permitted by its banking provider despite asking for evidence”.

In addition, charity money had been left in Bhaiyat’s personal bank account “for several days” or where money was not transferred at the same value.

“This creates risks of potential misuse or loss of charitable funds, thus threatening the charity’s reputation,” warns the regulator, which concluded that the trustees’ management of charity funds amounts to “misconduct and/or mismanagement”.

The regulator is also critical of the trustees for only providing its investigation with relevant material two to three years after its investigation launched.

“Had the material been provided earlier, the Commission’s engagement and regulatory action may have been different as the material alleviates some of the Commission’s regulatory concerns,” it said.

“The Commission and the courts expect trustees to cooperate with it as the regulator, it is therefore difficult to see why a prudent body of trustees would not fully cooperate with the Commission.”

The regulator added: “Charities must have robust financial controls in order to protect the charity’s funds. Charitable funds should not be transferred via personal bank accounts save for exceptional circumstances.

“There are significant risks to charitable funds if they are held in personal bank account, even where control measures are in place. This practice is not transparent or easily accountable.”

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