The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Grove Mountain, and has frozen its bank accounts, over financial concerns at the charity, which provides books to the Caribbean for educational purposes
Grove Mountain was set up in 2015 and is based in South London. Its accounts for April 2016 show income of £88,360 and expenditure of £88,122.
The accounts were qualified with a note stating that Grove Mountain could only produce bank statements from 1 April 2016 because it was originally set up as a limited company, but its bank account was terminated due to the failure to provide documentation and as a result all transactions before that date cannot be retrieved.
After concerns regarding the charity’s finances were raised with the Commission by a third party, the regulator examined the charity’s accounts for the financial year ending 1 April 2016. The Commission found that the majority of the charity’s income for the year was withdrawn in cash and that there was a pattern of large cash withdrawals being made shortly after donations or identical amounts had been deposited.
The Commission said this raises regulatory concerns regarding the charity’s financial controls and whether the cash withdrawals have been spent on meeting the charity’s objects.
A statutory inquiry has therefore been opened to examine whether the charity has been operating for exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit in furtherance of its charitable objects.
The inquiry will also consider whether the financial controls of the charity are adequate and its funds have been properly expended, and whether the trustees have complied with their legal duties in respect of the administration, governance and management of the charity.
Once the investigation is complete, the Commission will publish a report detailing the issues and its actions and outcomes.
Report by Pat Sweet
