But he confirmed that an HM Revenue and Customs investigation into Ezer V’Hatzalah was at “an early stage”.
The charity, which supports Jewish educational and religious institutions locally and abroad, as well as poverty relief, had an income of around £11,250,000 in 2018. It spent over £12 million, recording a deficit of £806,421 for the year.
According to its 2018 accounts, the trustees became aware of “weaknesses in their accounting and internal control procedures and the potential for the misallocation of funds”.
They said the charity had notified the Charity Commission and was “engaged in the process of resolving these issues with HM Revenue and Customs”.
The accounts noted that payments had been made “for which the charity failed to make adequate records of the nature of the expenditure”.
Payments which had been made on credit cards issued to a trustee and reimbursed by the charity, included “personal expenditure of a trustee and members of his family”.
Commission paid to people who secured grants for the charity had been “incorrectly disclosed” as charitable grants rather than fundraising expenditure.
Ezer V’Hatzalah had its own charity voucher scheme, though this comprised only a small element of donations at around £1.4 million in 2018.
