Regulator tells five charities to submit late accounts amid misconduct concerns

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has issued a directive to five linked charities ordering them to submit their overdue financial information within the six months.

The charities subject to the directive are The George Jamieson Fund, Nether Don Fishers Fund, Nether Don Widows Fund, Patrick Mitchell Hunter Fund and The Shepherd Trust.

The charities operate in Aberdeen and have also been told to submit details of their current trustees by 3 March 2027.

The outstanding financial information relates to the years ending April 2024 and 2025.

The order has been made amid an ongoing probe into the five separate charities that share the same management, including the same principal contact and administrative arrangements.

The regulator said that it “considers that there appears to have been misconduct in the administration of these charities and that regulatory action is necessary to secure the proper application of the charities' property for their charitable purposes”.

It added that “any decision on further action will depend on the circumstances at the end of the six-month period”.

Its inquiry report details how two of the charities, George Jamieson Fund and Shepherd Trust, were initially contacted five years ago as part of its Revitalising Trusts Project, which aims to ensure funds from underactive or dormant charities are used to support other good causes.

“Despite some initial engagement with the principal contact for these charities, information about the activities of both charities was not provided and an inquiry was subsequently initiated into these charities,” said the OSCR.

Both are managed by Aberdeen legal services firm Wilsone and Duffus, which also manages the three other charities that aresubject to the late filing order.

The regulator is concerns that all five charities “hold significant underutilised charitable assets”.

Its report says that the work of the charities is varied and includes poverty relief, supporting those facing hardship due to ill health or disability, and advancing education.