The trio of trustees, Cyril Smith and his property developer son Matthew Smith and accountant daughter-in-law Mariya Smith, were removed as trustees after an investigation by the Charity Commission found that the family had used around £416,573 of charitable funds for personal benefit.

The charity, Manor Building Preservation Trust, was established in 1999 by Cyril Smith and was registered as a charity in 2004 to preserve listed buildings ‘for the benefit of the nation, the historical, architectural, and constructional heritage that may exist in buildings of particular beauty or historical interest’.

The investigation was launched in 2016 after legal advisors for the family contacted the Charity Commission to raise concerns about unauthorised trustee remuneration with allegations against the trustees of using charitable funds for ‘significant private gain.’

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