The Commission was notified in August 2013 by the Home Office Immigration and Enforcement Criminal Investigations Team (HOIE) that it had commenced a criminal investigation into the charity, which was set up in 2008 with objects related to the advancement of the Sikh religion in the UK.

HOIE suspected the charity was being abused to allow illegal entry of Indian nationals into the UK for a fee.

The Commission’s inquiry found that there was only one active trustee in the charity. As a result of its concerns the Commission removed this individual as a trustee in January 2016.

The individual pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to 3 counts of assisting unlawful immigration to between 2011 and 2013, and was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment on 16 May 2016.

The Commission’s inquiry concluded that the trustee used the charity to facilitate immigration fraud, which worked by the charity sponsoring individuals as ministers for religion, while funds were circulated through the charity’s bank accounts to give the appearance that the charity was receiving legitimate donations.

The regulator found that there had been misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity, and that the trustee had potentially providing false and misleading information to the Commission.  Two other individuals who had been named on documents as trustees to the charity were not aware that their details had been included.

The Commission removed the charity from the register in February 2016 as it no longer operated.

Carl Mehta, head of investigations and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: ‘We were able to share information with the HOIE criminal investigations team and support the successful prosecution of an individual who was benefiting from this disgraceful abuse of charitable status.

‘Charity trustees must act with integrity and avoid any personal benefit or conflicts of interest.’

Khalsa Missionary Society: Inquiry report is here.