The Charity Commission has named the next 12 charities to be looked a as part of its class inquiry into a £22m cheque cashing investigation.

The inquiry was launched earlier this year following an HMRC visit to a firm in Hackney, London, that found more than 100 charities had cash cheques with it over a 12 month period until March 2023.

This latest announcement brings the total number of charities being looked at so far to 32, with 10 announced in May and a further 10 named in late summer.

The 12 charities to be investigated are: Beis Chinuch Lebonos Limited, Mars Org. Ltd, Bnei Zion Community Nursery, BC Trust, Reb Shayale’s Tzeduke, Noam Halvovos, Kollel Mishkon Yakov, Ttba Belz, Satmar Kolel, The Chevras Ezras Nitzrochim Trust, Support the Charity Worker, and Edupoor Limited.

The regulator said it will investigate “how trustees had oversight of what happened to funds exchanged for the cheques, and if this cash has been used properly to support what the charities were set up to do”.

It will also “seek to establish how trustees determined that these financial transactions were in their charity’s best interests”.

All charities involved are subject to an immediate order barring them from issuing cheques without consent from the regulator.

It added: “The Commission has not reached any conclusions and the opening of the inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing.

“The scope of the inquiry may also be extended if additional regulatory issues emerge during the Commission’s investigation.”

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