Commission opens inquiry into the Kantor Foundation as founder sanctioned
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into, and frozen the bank account of, the Kantor Foundation after Dr Viatcheslav Kantor was sanctioned by the UK government.
The Kantor Foundation (1173549) was registered in 2017 and is a grant-making trust, applying funds to charitable causes across the world at the discretion of the trustees.
The charity’s current trustee is a corporate entity, the Kantor Trustees, of which Dr Kantor is a director.
On 6 April 2022, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office sanctioned Dr Kantor under the UK’s Russia Sanctions regime, meaning he is now subject to a full asset freeze and his name appears on the ‘UK Sanctions List’ as a designated person.
The Commission’s position is that individuals subject to UK financial sanctions cannot discharge their duties as a trustee of a charity.
The Commission opened an inquiry on 7 April 2022 to:
- Determine whether the charity can continue to operate and is viable following sanctions being imposed on the founder.
- Consider the conduct of the trustees and whether they have discharged their legal duties and responsibilities in their management and administration of the charity.
The regulator has frozen the charity’s bank account, meaning that no one can access or move funds held in its account without the Commission’s prior consent.
The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional issues emerge.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- The Commission has also opened an investigation into the Kantor Charitable Foundation (1173550) and the World Holocaust Forum Foundation (1194512) due to Dr Kantor’s role in them.
- On 6 April 2022, Dr Kantor was named by Her Majesty’s Treasury (‘HMT’) as a ‘designated person’ for the purposes of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
- The effect of designation with an asset freeze by the UK government, means it is prohibited to deal with the frozen funds or economic resources, belonging to or owned, held or controlled by a designated person. It is also prohibited to make funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to, or for the benefit of, a designated person. Matters relating to sanctions should be directed at the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
- It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.
- The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.
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