A Pentecostal church in London has had its accounts frozen and is under investigation by the Charity Commission which found 'cause for serious regulatory concern'.
The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales announced today that it has been investigating the Croydon Tabernacle since March, and has found 'substantial unexplained expenditure and potentially conflicted payments to people connected with the charity'. Its statement added: 'As a result of its concerns, the Commission has frozen a bank account controlled by the charity.'
The church, which claims a membership of some 250 adults and 150 children, was founded in November 1996 as an outreach mission of the international Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), itself established in 1952. Another church under the RCCG umbrella, the New Life Assembly in Barnet in London, was investigated by the Charity Commission in 2015.
The Croydon Tabernacle's website says it had a predominantly Nigerian membership and has evolved to include members across the Ghanaian and Ugandan communities.
The Commission said it has been engaging with the church since November 2016 to examine its concerns; this included a meeting with the charity in February 2017. 'However the engagement did not resolve the regulatory concerns so a statutory inquiry has been opened,' the Commision said.
The inquiry will examine the extent of risks to charity property and whether 'there has been misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity and/or breaches of trust or non-compliance with charity law; potential conflicts of interest have been adequately identified or managed; connected party payments or transactions have been properly authorised'.
After it has concluded an inquiry, the Commission will 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 GOV.UK.
A Croydon Tabernacle spokesperson said: 'Our board of trustees has received a notice of statutory inquiry from The Charity Commission. We have been assisting fully with their inquiries and, under their guidance, we will take appropriate action to make sure we are compliant.
'We would like to thank our tireless army of volunteers for their hard work within our congregation, our local community and far beyond. We appreciate their patience and understanding while this inquiry takes place.'
The RCCG declined to comment.
