The inquiry was opened after the Commission identified that the trustees had given an individual over £900,000 in unsecured loans.

Concerns were also identified by the regulator around the charity’s awarding of payments and other financial benefits to the charity’s two trustees and others connected with the charity.

The inquiry was opened on 20 August to examine the decision making in relation to the unsecured loans, whether there has been any financial loss to the charity, whether potential conflicts of interest in relation to the financial transactions have been handled appropriately, whether there has been any unauthorised private benefit to the trustees and/or connected parties, and whether the trustees have complied with their governing document and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities under charity law.

The Commission states that it may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge.

The charity runs a church in Beckenham, London and was originally investigated as part of a class inquiry in March 2021 after it failed to file its accounts. This inquiry was closed when the accounts were later submitted 113 days late. Baldwin Scofield Limited audited these reports.

The charity’s total income was reported as £1.3m, with £1.1m coming in in donations, £84,000 coming in through charitable activities and £138,000 coming in through other trading activities. The charity’s total expenditure was reported as £1.06m.

Once the Commission has completed its inquiry it will publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, actions undertaken and the outcomes.