Probe launches into religious charity that has failed to file accounts for four years

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a religious charity that failed to submit its accounts for four years in a row.

Annual accounts, returns and reports for the Dudley Central Mosque and Muslim Community Centre dating back to March 2018 are still outstanding, said the regulator.

“These failures are symptomatic of wider administration and governance issues that persist at the charity, despite previous engagement from the regulator,” said the Commission.

The charity has already been subject to three regulatory compliance cases since 2018. These focused on issues arising from ongoing disputes “between two groups” at the charity.

This included advice from the Commission to seek legal advice around its governance arrangements and hold an election to set up an independent committee to settle disputes.

“The Commission is concerned that, despite previous engagement and regulatory advice, the charity has not resolved its administration and governance issue,” said the regulator.

In March this year the charity was placed on the Commission’s ‘double defaulters’ class inquiry, for those who fail to submit accounts for two or more years in a row within five years.

According to the Charities Register the charity’s accounts are more than 1,300 days overdue.

Its last financial information showed that for the year ending March 2017 it had an income of £172,229, spent £123,424 and had obtained £6,680 in government grants.

It is listed as promoting the advancement of the Islamic faith, equality and diversity and has seven trustees and 28 volunteers.