A Charedi education charity is being investigated over potential financial “misconduct and mismanagement”, authorities have said.

The Charity Commission announced on Thursday that its inquiry into the Bersam Trust, based in Salford, Greater Manchester, was opened on January 14.

The trust, which reported an income of more than £300,000 in 2018, lists its objectives as “providing children with a strictly Orthodox Jewish religious education” and “advancing Orthodox Jewish practice”.

The Charity Commission said it had found “significant discrepancies between the financial activity recorded in the accounts and the values of funds entering and leaving the charity’s bank accounts, raising serious concern”.

The independent regulator added: “The Commission’s accountancy analysis also identified that comparative figures in the accounts do not match those in the previous year’s accounts and differences are not supported by explanation from the Independent Examiner.

“The Commission has therefore taken protective regulatory action to freeze the charity’s bank accounts.”

The inquiry will particularly focus on whether funds have been spent for “exclusively charitable purposes” and whether the charity’s trustees “may have knowingly or recklessly provided information which is false or misleading”.

The Bersam Trust has been contacted for comment.