Charity regulator appoints interim manager to The Kingdom Church GB
The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to The Kingdom Church GB in South London.
The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to The Kingdom Church GB in South London.
The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the charity in August 2020 following concerns about the accuracy of information provided to the Commission regarding the charity’s income and expenditure. The inquiry is looking into the trustees’ compliance with their legal duties and management of the charity’s resources and financial affairs, including charity funds potentially being unaccounted for and misapplied.
The regulator has serious ongoing concerns about the charity’s administration, governance, and the financial relationship with its two subsidiary companies, World Conquerors Christian Centres and Kingdom Church. The Commission found the charity does not have a bank account and charity funds have instead been deposited into the charity’s subsidiaries’ bank accounts. The subsidiaries have since been removed from the charity’s control and the inquiry is trying to determine whether this was done lawfully.
As a result, the Commission exercised its powers under the Charities Act 2011 to appoint an interim manager, Virginia Henley of Hewitsons LLP, on 15 February 2021 to conduct a review of the charity and its relationship with these subsidiary companies. Following this initial review, the interim manager will consider the charity’s future operation and viability.
The Commission’s inquiry continues.
Ends.
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Notes to editors:
- View the charity’s entry on the register of charities.
- The regulator first opened a regulatory case into the charity after media reports that it was selling a ‘plague protection kit’ which it was claimed would cure and protect against the Covid-19 virus. This led to liaison with Southwark Council which had opened a Trading Standards investigation into the sale of the kits.
- The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.
- Section 76(3)(g) of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission power to appoint interim managers to a charity. Interim managers are appointed as a temporary and protective measure where the Commission has identified misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of a charity, or where there is a need to protect a charity’s property.
- This appointment is a temporary and protective power that will be reviewed at regular intervals. It will continue until the Commission makes a further order for its variation or discharge.
- It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.