The Charity Commission has restricted trustees at a Christian charity from carrying out certain financial transactions without its approval.

The regulator said the move has been taken against the board of The Outreach Ministry “as a temporary and protective measure” after it found “several payments referencing the trustees and potentially related parties that cannot be adequately explained”.

It added that “additionally, there were payments referenced that may not be furthering the charity’s stated purpose”.

The restriction on trustees has been made as the regulator escalates its investigation into the charity to a statutory inquiry, after initially opening a compliance case against the charity in November last year. This had been launched amid concerns around the charity’s financial controls and use of funds.

The statutory inquiry will look at the charity’s financial management, whether funds and assets are being used for charitable purposes and if there is any failings, weaknesses or misconduct/mismanagement by trustees.

The charity has recently registered and does not have any financial information listed on the charity register. It does not need to update its information until 10 months after its first financial period ends.

Its activities include outreach evangelism. It has three trustees, all appointed in 2023.

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