Press release

Inquiry opened into Insaan Relief

Insaan Relief under inquiry.

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Insaan Relief (registered charity number 1139690).

The charity is based in Nottingham and its objects include ‘to relieve poverty, distress and suffering amongst people in any part of the world’.

Concerns of how the charity applied its charitable funds and unmanaged conflicts of interest were raised with the Commission in December 2012.

The regulator inspected the books and records of the charity and met with the trustees twice in 2013. During this period the Commission became increasingly concerned about the trustees’ continuing failure to properly account for the charitable expenditure of the charity and properly manage conflicts of interest. As a result, a statutory inquiry was opened on 3 February 2014.

The investigation into the charity is looking at, whether:

  • funds applied overseas have been properly applied for charitable purposes
  • the trustees’ decision making has been sufficiently robust, and the trustees exercising sufficient control over the charity
  • the trustees have properly managed conflicts of interest
  • and to what extent, there was mismanagement or misconduct on the part of the charity’s trustees
  • and to what extent, the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded the 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 by the Commission are available on its website.

You can view the charity’s details on the Register of Charities.

Ends

PR 39/14

For press enquiries contact the press office.

Notes to Editors

  1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales.
  2. Our mission is to be the independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales, acting in the public’s interest, to ensure that: * charities know what they have to do * the public know what charities do * charities are held to account
  3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Charity Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of protective and remedial powers.
  4. The Commission’s decision to announce the opening of a statutory inquiry is based on whether it is in the public interest to do so and with consideration of our objective to increase public trust and confidence in charities.
Published 23 May 2014