The Charity Commission has opened inquiries into two charities that share trustees over concerns with "poor financial management"
The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust and The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust were registered in 1987 and 1991 respectively, and raise funds for faith institutes in Israel.
The regulator is concerned about the charities’ financial management after discovering that one trustee, who lives in Israel, is in possession of the charities’ cheque books containing a number of blank cheques pre-signed by the trustees who live in the UK.
The charities also operate heavily in cash, which the Commission advises against, overseas and do not maintain adequate records to supplement this. The trustees could not provide sufficient evidence that they were monitoring or verifying the end use of the charities’ funds overseas, the commission said.
The inquiry will examine the administration, governance and management of the charities by the trustees, the financial controls and management of the charities and the conduct of the trustees.
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