Sanctioned trustee removed and charity closed down following investigation
Regulator finds sanctioned trustee was responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.
Today (14th December 2023), the Charity Commission has published the report of its inquiry into the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, a charity of which Russian businessman Dr Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor was a trustee and member. The Commission has disqualified Dr Kantor from holding office in a charity for life, and the charity has now been dissolved.
The inquiry was opened in April 2022 after Dr Kantor was sanctioned by the UK government under its Russia Sanctions regime. In the Commission’s view it is not possible for a designated person to act as a trustee.
Dr Kantor’s failure to resign as a trustee led to the Commission opening the inquiry and suspending Dr Kantor as a trustee. The concluding report is critical of Dr Kantor in this regard and his failure to cooperate with the Commission over his continued involvement in the charity. The inquiry concluded that Dr Kantor was responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.
- Having opened the inquiry, the Commission moved swiftly to use its powers to suspend Dr Kantor as a trustee and member of the charity.
- In May 2022, the Commission further exercised its powers to remove Dr Kantor as a trustee of the charity. The consequence of removal is automatic disqualification from being a trustee of or for any other charity without a waiver from disqualification.
During the course of its inquiry, the Commission concluded that the charity, following Dr Kantor becoming a designated person, was no longer viable. The Commission therefore facilitated its winding-up and dissolution.
In May this year, the Commission appointed an interim manager to transfer the charity’s funds to an unconnected registered charity with similar purposes.
Joshua Farbridge, Head of Compliance Visits and Inspections at the Commission, said:
The Commission is clear that designated persons cannot legally act as trustees. By failing to step down, coupled with his failure to cooperate with the Commission, Dr Kantor’s conduct fell below that which the Commission expects of trustees.
Where wrongdoing occurs in a charity, the Commission will ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions or lack of. In Dr Kantor’s case this meant removal from office and a lifelong disqualification from acting as a trustee for any other charity.
Our inquiry concluded that, subsequent to Dr Kantor’s designation, the charity had no viable future and should be wound-up.
The charity was dissolved and removed from the register of charities on 4 August 2023.
The full report detailing the findings of this inquiry can be found on gov.uk.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The charity, which has now been dissolved, was established with purposes to advance the education of the public in relation to the Holocaust. It was registered with the Commission in May 2021.
- On 6 April 2022, Dr Kantor was named by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as a ‘designated person’ for the purposes of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
- The effect of designation with an asset freeze by the UK government, means it is prohibited to deal with the frozen funds or economic resources, belonging to or owned, held or controlled by a designated person. It is also prohibited to make funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to, or for the benefit of, a designated person. Matters relating to sanctions should be directed at the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
- The bank holding the charity’s funds determined that they were subject to Dr Kantor’s asset freeze and as such could not be applied without a licence being sought from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). In successfully arranging the transfer, the interim manager relied on a General Licence issued by OFSI in May 2022 which allows an interim manager, having been appointed by the Commission, to undertake specified activities which would otherwise be prohibited by financial sanctions.
- The Commission’s inquiries into the Kantor Foundation (1173549) and Kantor Charitable Foundation (1173550) remain ongoing.
- 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.
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