Charity Commission orders Jewish charity Chabad Lubavitch UK to hand over its accounts
Lubavitch House in Stamford Hill - Credit: google
A charity set up to promote the Jewish faith has been ordered to hand over its accounts after filing them late for the fifth year in a row.
The Charity Commission, an independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has also launched an investigation into Chabad Lubavitch UK which it has accused of “mismanagement”.
The charity whose HQ is in Stamford Hill has still failed to meet its legal obligation to file its annual accounts for 2015 – which were due by October 31 last year.
A spokesman for the Commission said: “Consequently the charity has now persistently failed to file its accounting documents on time for five consecutive years – filing at least 300 days late for the past four years - and the trustee has demonstrated a repeated pattern of behaviour and continuing evidence of mismanagement in the administration of the charity.”
The Commission has issued an order under section 84 of the Charities Act 2011 directing the charity to submit the outstanding accounting information.
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It has also directed the charity to undertake a review, and implement changes to ensure that the charity fully complies with its legal obligations in the future for the preparation and submission of annual accounts and returns.
The investigation will explore the extent to which the charity is complying with its legal duties regarding its administration, governance and management and - in particular - the compliance with legal obligations for the preparation and filing of accounting information.
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Rabbi Yitzhak Sufrin from Chabad Lubavitch UK told the Gazette they are dealing with the matter which they hope to clear up soon.
He said: “Obviously yes we were aware it has got to be submitted within 10 months of the year end, but our charity has over 29 branches in different parts of the country, and that has to be consolidated into one account. That is the root causes of this.
“Each one has to supply on a daily basis their profits, their loss, their reserves and their stock. It just takes time to get it together and on top of all that, charities today aren’t getting sufficient support. Things are tough in the country and charity’s financial support suffers.We can’t afford to pay over £100,000 for a chief financial officer.
“It’s not a question that we don’t want to conform to statutory obligations. It’s brought up at every meeting without the prompting of the Charity Commission.”
