HMRC discovered more than 100 charities had cashed cheques to the value of £22m between 2021 and 2023, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Petty France in Westminster, home to the Charity Commission of England and Wales (credit Basher Eyre via Wikimedia Commons)

Four charities serving Haringey and Barnet are among several being investigated by the Charity Commission after £22million in cashed cheques were found by HMRC.

Two charities operating in Haringey – Inspirations, which supports children’s education and training, and One Heart-Lev Echod, which supports people with health issues – are among those being investigated.

Friends of Beis Soroh Schneirer, which supports Beis Soroh Schneirer School in Hendon, is being looked into, while Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust, which supports an Edgware school of the same name, is also being investigated.

An unannounced visit from HMRC to a company in Hackney discovered 105 charities in total had cashed cheques to the value of £22m between December 2021 and March 2023.

However ten, including the Haringey and Barnet ones, have been “prioritised” for investigation by the regulator. The Charity Commission said this was due to the number of cheques issued and the total value of cheques cashed by these ten charities.

The regulator said: “The commission expects to extend the number of charities under investigation over time. Using powers available to the commission during an inquiry, the regulator will determine the facts around how these charities have transferred funds.

“It will also investigate how trustees had oversight of what happened to funds exchanged for the cheques, and if this cash has been used properly to support what the charities were set up to do. The commission will seek to establish how trustees determined that these financial transactions were in their charity’s best interests.”

The charities have been issued with an ‘immediate order’ to temporarily stop issuing cheques without “prior consent”.

The four charities with publicly available contact details were approached for comment.

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