Charity Commission opens inquiry into Sunderland Islamic Education Centre and Mosque over “accounting” and “misconduct” concerns
The Charity Commission says it has opened an inquiry into Sunderland’s Islamic Education Centre and Mosque “due to regulatory concerns that there is, or has been, misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.”
The official inquiry will focus on the failure of the Centre to “submit all outstanding accounting information by July 2020”.
A statement from the Commission said: “Despite issuing frequent reminders this deadline was not met. The charity’s failure to submit the necessary accounting documents on time has been a repeated pattern of behaviour. Prior to its submission last December, the charity had gone three years without filing the legally required financial information.
"This is of serious concern in relation to the trustees’ duty to be accountable and transparent to the public.”
The Commission has previously engaged with the charity as part of a ‘class inquiry’ examining ‘double defaulters’ – charities that have failed to file the legally required financial information for two or more consecutive years.
The inquiry will examine the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance, and management of the charity and the extent to which any failings or weaknesses identified were a result of misconduct and or mismanagement by the trustees.
The inquiry will also examine reasons behind the Centre’s “failure to comply with their statutory reporting duties including the timely submission of the charity’s annual reports and accounts to the Commission”.
The Commission also have the scope to extend their inquiry “if additional issues emerge”.
We have attempted to contact the Centre for comment.