The Charity Commission has found that very serious concerns around the conduct of a large Christian charity are unsubstantiated.

The regulator looked into World Mission Agency – Winners Chapel International after an investigative journalist raised serious concerns about the charity including allegations of misappropriation of around £16m in charity funds.

Concerns were also raised about the conduct of the charity’s founder, a pastor based in Nigeria, who was caught on camera slapping a woman accused of being a witch in the face in front of a congregation. The pastor was facing police action in Nigeria at the time.

Other alleged misconduct included questions around the transfer of large sums of the charity’s funds to its sister organisation in Nigeria, church members being encouraged to recruit vulnerable people so they would contribute to the charity financially, and conflicts of interest leading to individuals benefiting privately from the charity.

An investigation cleared the charity of the serious allegations, and the commission said the case allows it “to put on record that very serious concerns raised about a large charity were not substantiated”.

WMA-WCI is a London-based Christian charity with churches across the UK. It holds weekly services, runs a Sunday school for children and young adults, delivers community based events and provides grants. The charity had income of £8.3m in the year to December 2014, according to accounts filed with the Charity Commission.

The regulator’s review of the charity’s finances identified minor discrepancies, but trustees were able to explain and resolve them.

“We found no evidence that £16m or any other amount had been misappropriated,” the commission said. “We were satisfied the charity could demonstrate good financial controls, appropriate for a large and expanding charity.”

The commission found no evidence that beneficiaries of the charity are at risk. The incident occurred in Nigeria and there were no incidents involving this charity. WMA-WCI managed the reputational risk of its association with the incident in Nigeria by taking legal advice, discussing the matter at trustee meetings, responding to press queries and issuing statements as appropriate.

A potential conflict of interest was identified, around the employment of an individual who was related to the founder.

“However, we were satisfied with the trustees’ decision making in respect of the employment,” the commission said. “They demonstrated that the conflict of interest was managed and that they had appropriate policies which were applied.”

WMA-WCI was found to have an appropriate safeguarding policy in place, based on the model provided by Churches Child Protection Advisory Service.

Trustees were provided with advice and guidance on preparing accounts, to ensure the minor discrepancies identified during the case are not repeated in future accounting cycles.

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