A trustee has been banned from charity leadership roles following investigations into the finances of two Christian charities.

The Charity Commission probes found that hundreds of thousands of pounds of charitable funds from Centre for Skills Enhancement Limited and Jesus Power House Ministries remains unexplained.

This includes money paid into the bank accounts of their sole trustee, Onyekachi Anyanwu, and her husband, as well as cash spent on musical equipment.

Also, more than £650,000 in Gift Aid claims relating to Jesus Power House Ministries have not been accounted for.

“The trustees were unable to provide records demonstrating that the donations received were sufficient to support Gift Aid claims paid into the charity’s bank account,” said the regulator.

“In the absence of adequate accounting records or supporting evidence, the inquiry could not reconcile the Gift Aid income with the charity’s reported donations.”

Just under £490,000 of Centre for Skills Enhancement Limited’s fund was transferred to the couple, the Commission’s investigations also found.

While Anyanwu claimed the money was used to “support projects in Nigeria” the Commission was concerned the money was transferred to personal bank accounts rather than being paid directly to suppliers.

“When asked to explain this approach, the trustee stated there was ‘no particular reason’,” said the regulator’s reports following its investigation.

Exposing charity funds 'to undue risk'

“The inquiry concluded that the transfer of substantial charitable funds into personal bank accounts, in the absence of any clear rationale, exposed the charity’s funds to undue risk, demonstrates poor decision making and a failure to act in the charity’s best interests.”

The regulator said that one third of the Centre’s money that was transferred to the bank accounts of Anyanwu and her husband remains “unexplained”.

It also found that “a substantial number of receipts were found to have been altered”, with the trustee claiming this had been to record them in a different accounting year.

“Altering original financial documents is a serious breach of proper accounting practice and undermines the transparency and reliability of the charity’s records,” warned the Commission.

Further concerns include almost £10,000 of the Centre’s money was paid to a company, following advice “from friends”, as “investments”, but there was no evidence supplied of any return for the charity.

Meanwhile, just under £34,000 of Jesus Power House Ministries money was transferred to the couple and another family member. While some invoices supplied backed up Anyanwu’s claim that money was used to support Nigerian projects, “there was little assurance that the vast majority of these payments were made in furtherance of the charity’s purpose”.

During its probe the Commission also found that £178,000 had been spent on “musical and technical equipment”. Of this only £42,000 could be accounted for and receipts were found to have been altered.

Anyanwu has been removed from the charities' boards. In finding misconduct and/or mismanagement at the charities the regulator has also disqualified her from future trusteeship.

At Jesus Power House Ministries new trustees have since been appointed and have complied with the Commission’s action plan to improve.

The Centre for Skills Enhancement was removed from the charities register last October.

Three years ago the bank accounts of both charities had been frozen by the Commission during its investigations.

Following its probes into the charities the Commission said: “Trustees have a legal duty to ensure that charitable funds are applied solely and reasonably in furtherance of the charity’s purposes.

“They are legally responsible and publicly accountable for protecting the charity, its property, funds and beneficiaries, and for ensuring that resources are used only for legitimate charitable purposes.”

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