UK: Budget Cuts May Hinder Combatting Charity Fraud

The BBC reports that a 27 percent cut in the budget for the Charity Commission that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales has led the Commission’s chief executive to state publicly that he is considering ignoring some reports of charity fraud. More specifically, the Commission might ignore reports where the amount of charitable funds at risk is relatively small, leaving such investigations to the regular police (who face budget cuts of their own).  Last year the Commission investigated 450 reports of fraud and mismanagement (as compared to 180,000 registered charities), and the articles states the Commission regards that number as significantly underestimating the fraud and mismanagement problems within the charitable sector. 

LHM