Concerns around unauthorised payments made by a Christian charity have prompted the Charity Commission to launch a statutory inquiry.

The probe will look at payments made by The Matt 6.3 Charitable Trust to connected parties and how well it is managing conflicts of interest and private benefit.

Also being looked at are whether the Trust has the appropriate polices and procedures in place and to what extent the trustees have complied with previously issued professional advice.

The regulator became aware of concerns around the payments and governance failings in October last year.

Advisors have told the trustees to ensure the unauthorised payments stopped and to appoint an independent board of trustees.

“However, some payments continued to be made and the charity has so far not recruited any independent trustees,” the regulator found.

Also, the Grimsby based charity’s latest accounts, for the 12 months to March 2024, were submitted 123 days late and the auditor involved noted governance concerns.

These accounts show the charity’s income was £1.67m, while it spent £1.54m over this period.

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