UK Charity Commission Has 236 Pending Charity Abuse Cases

ThirdSector reports that a special Charity Commission unit established to investigate alleged abuse in English and Welsh charities, including fraud and financial irregularities, risks to vulnerable beneficiaries, and possible terrorist links, had 236 open cases as of March 31, 2009.  While not named in the story, this unit appears to be the Intensive Casework Unit, which usually only becomes involved with cases with “serious abuse” or that are “highly sensitive, complex or high profile and/or present[] a serious risk to the charity or its beneficiaries.”  While these open cases represent a very small proportion of the over 187,000 charities registered with the Commission, they include cases where such measures as appointing of an interim manager or removal of trustees are under consideration.

LHM