Kingsway International Christian Centre (‘the charity’) is a company limited by guarantee which was incorporated on 5 February 2004 and registered with the Charity Commission (‘the commission’) on16 February 2004. It is governed by a memorandum and articles of association dated 5 February 2004, as amended by special resolutions dated 12 January 2008 and 20 May 2012.
The charity’s objects are:
– the advancement of the Christian faith
– the furtherance of the charitable work of the charity by the advancement of such other charitable purposes as the trustees shall from time to time decide
It is a large, growing evangelical church. It operates 19 places of worship and owns a 24 acre facility in Kent where it runs its headquarters from. Its senior pastor, since 1992, is Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo. The charity runs a television and radio station ministry.
Background of the investigation
The UK commission noted that the charity’s accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010 (‘the accounts’) referred to £3 million of investments being made with a trustee (referred to in this report as ‘the ex-trustee’). The accounts stated that the ex-trustee was a ‘qualified independent trader’ who was ‘in a position to provide the services of an investment manager by investing in financial markets.’ The commission contacted the Financial Services Authority (‘FSA’, relevant functions now carried out by the Financial Conduct Authority) to verify this. The FSA informed the commission that the ex-trustee was not in such a position in that he was not, nor had he ever been, authorised to carry on regulated activities in a personal capacity.
The commission’s concerns as a result were that the charity made substantial investments through the ex-trustee.
The commission’s enquiries also suggested that the money for the investments was paid into the ex-trustee’s personal bank account and that a substantial sum of money might have been lost. The investments appeared to be speculative and high risk in nature.
As a result, on 11 February 2011 the commission opened a statutory inquiry (‘the inquiry’) into the charity under the then section 8 of the Charities Act 1993 (now section 46 of the Charities Act 2011). The inquiry closed on 14 December 2016 with the publication of this report.
The issues under investigation were:
– the prudence of judgement and decision making of the trustees in making such large investments and what information and advice the trustees based their decision on
– how any potential conflicts of interest in relation to the decision to invest through the ex-trustee were managed
the conduct of the ex-trustee
– what other investments the trustees had made and what their future investment plans were
– whether the charity’s assets were at risk and whether the trustees were taking all appropriate steps to protect the charity
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