The Charity Commission has disqualified a trustee from charity leadership roles for five years after he made speeches promoting religious violence.

The ban for Zulfiqar Mashadi has been made by the regulator following its statutory inquiry into Charr Yarr Welfare Foundation, the poverty relief charity where he was a trustee.

The inquiry had been opened over “serious concerns” around its governance and financial management.

But during its probe the regulator became aware of online video statements made by Zulfiqar Mashadi.

“In these videos, Mr Z Mashadi was seen inciting religious violence, advocating the murder of blasphemers and denigrating specific Islamic faiths,” said the regulator.

“The Commission considered these statements to be a consistent pattern of behaviour which met the government’s 2011 definition of extremism.

“This, in part, led to the Commission taking regulatory action to disqualify Mr Z Mashadi from his position as a trustee of the charity.”

Financial mismanagement at the charity was also found and two other trustees, Azka Mashadi and Maryam Irfan Mosvi, have been handed charity leadership bans, of two and a half years each.

The Commission found that the charity’s former trustees “unable to explain” why £1,400 of the charity’s funds had been transferred to Zulfiqar Mashadi. This money has since been repaid.

The former trustees were also found to “have accepted large donations and interest free loans without conducting any due diligence or maintaining records”.

They also failed to “failed to implement sufficient controls in respect of their management of the charity’s finances”.

This includes using personal bank accounts and cash couriering to transfer charity money to a non-profit organisation in Pakistan.

We’ve concluded our inquiry into Charr Yarr Welfare Foundation Limited and have disqualified a former trustee involved in speeches promoting religious violence.

Read more: https://t.co/Ed0VbJhspn pic.twitter.com/MWMRxSlTg7

— Charity Commission (@ChtyCommission) April 9, 2024

“Mr Z Mashadi’s conduct made him entirely unfit to act as a trustee for a charity,” said the regulator’s head of compliance visits and inspections Joshua Farbridge.

“We are very clear that where we uncover wrongdoing that harms an individual charity and diminishes the reputation of charity, we will be robust and tenacious in using our powers to secure the right outcomes to protect beneficiaries, charitable resources, staff, and donors.

He added that “encouragingly, the current trustees of the Charr Yarr Welfare Foundation have shown a willingness to take onboard regulatory advice and guidance provided by the Commission, and we continue to engage with them as is necessary”.

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