AN INTERNATIONAL charity with a base in Oldham is being investigated by the Charity Commission for alleged links to Hamas.
The Al-Khair Foundation, situated on Featherstall Road in the Westwood area, provides support to victims of disaster and poverty largely across the Middle East and Africa, and also works to promote education, religion and general social welfare.
However, the Charity Commission received a complaint alleging it and its partners had connections to Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation in the UK.
It was also accused of giving direct funding to the group.
On July 31, one of Al-Khair’s directors was arrested in the UK for conspiring to funnel money and supplies to Hamas and was accused by the US Department of Justice of having worked closely with its senior leadership to do so.
According to US attorney Jamie McDonald, Mohammad Yousef Hasna, 45, of Istanbul, Turkey, ‘worked closely with Hamas’s senior leadership to deliver supplies, food, funding, and other materials to terrorists under the guise of humanitarian aid.’
He said: “Our arrest of Mohammad Hasna demonstrates our commitment to dismantling Hamas’s illicit global financing networks and the sham charities that support terrorist organisations and their violent aims using the lie of philanthropy.”
Mr Hasna is now awaiting extradition to New York to face three separate charges related to financing terrorism. Each will carry a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The Al-Khair Foundation last year raised £74,790,071- £72.51 million of which from donations and legacies.
Only £2.27 million was raised by charitable activities, with the remainder coming from ‘other sources’, according to the Charity Commission’s overview, though 98 per cent of its expenditure did go towards ‘charitable activities’.
The complaint has now escalated into a statutory inquiry, with the charity now banned from sending payments to Gaza, Mr Hasna, or his organisation without the Charity Commission’s permission.
The Charity Commission will now investigate the nature of the charity’s links to Mr Hasna and whether the Al-Khair Foundation has carried out appropriate checks on their international partners and how the money has been used.
It will also investigate whether any failures or weaknesses in the foundation were due to misconduct or mismanagement from trustees, and whether the organisation had any measures to protect funds from being misused.
The Al-Khair Foundation’s main bases in Croydon are now being investigated by Counter Terror Policing London.
The foundation said it is “co-operating fully” with the inquiry and also said it filed a serious incident report with the Charity Commission before it was launched.
A spokesperson said: “Everywhere we work we are firmly committed to ensuring that the funds entrusted to us by our generous donors are used for their intended purpose: meeting the humanitarian needs of poor and marginalised people in the communities we serve.
“Al-Khair Foundation is deeply committed to supporting those in need in Gaza.
“Our significant support over many years has included providing food parcels, hot meals, clean water, medical aid, shelter materials, winter assistance and orphan and family support.”
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