UK media is reporting that charity regulators have appointed an interim manager and frozen the bank account for Viva Palestina, the charity associated with far-left British Muslim Brotherhood George Galloway. According to a Third Sector report:
The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to Viva Palestina, the charity launched by George Galloway, the Respect Party MP for Bradford West, because of concerns about its financial management.
A statement from the commission today said that Helen Blundell of the accountancy firm MHA Bloomer Heaven had been appointed to take over the management of the charity from the trustees on a temporary basis on 15 September in order to protect the charity’s funds.
The decision to appoint Blundell was prompted by the commission’s continuing concerns about the charity’s financial management and its outstanding annual accounts and returns, the regulator said.
Blundell has been asked to compile and submit the charity’s overdue accounts, reports and returns, and to report any extra regulatory issues she identifies.
The regulator opened a statutory inquiry into Viva Palestina in June 2013 because of serious concerns about how it was managing its finances, including a failure to provide any accounts since the organisation was registered in 2009.
Read the rest here.
George Galloway has been a long-time supporter of Palestinian causes and a previous post discussed his role in Viva Palestina, a UK registered charity associated which had been under investigation by U. authorities in 2009. The organization has organized several convoys of humanitarian aid to Gaza including the first convoy where Galloway was reported to have handed cash and three cars to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah and the second convoy where Galloway met again with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah. Previous posts have discussed Galloway’s trips to the U.S. in conjunction with the convoys including a trip in March 2009 where he participated in a Northern Virginia fund-raising event in which Muslim American Society leader Mahdi Bray was also scheduled to appear.
For more information on George Galloway, go here.