An army museum charity has filed a serious incident report with the Charity Commission about the potential misappropriation of charitable funds, after its 2022/23 accounts reported that about £400,000 was unaccounted for.
The regulator has confirmed that it has received a serious incident report from the Army Museums Ogilby Trust, which supports and promotes British Army museums and collections, about its financial management and the potential misappropriation of funds.
According to reports in the Daily Mail newspaper, Wiltshire Police is investigating up to £400,000 of missing charitable funds. A member of staff has been interviewed by the police under caution, the reports said.
Wiltshire police confirmed to Third Sector that an investigation is “ongoing”, but would not comment further on the matter at this stage.
The AMOT’s financial accounts for the year to the end of March 2023 report nearly £400,000 of unaccounted funds, saying: “At the year end of 31 March 2023 there was an outstanding employee debt of £367,068 (2022:373,342) owed to the charity.
“At the date of this audit report this debt remains outstanding and in the current and prior periods we have not been able to obtain sufficient audit evidence that this debt is recoverable.”
In the financial year ending March 2023, the AMOT recorded a total income of £2.6m and an expenditure of £2.9m.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We can confirm that, in line with our guidance, the trustees of Army Museums Ogilby Trust reported a serious incident to the Commission in relation to concerns about the charity’s financial management and potential misappropriation of funds.”
They said the regulator is “satisfied that trustees were responding appropriately to the matter” and that there is no immediate regulatory role for the commission.
The AMOT was founded in 1954 and is made up of more than 140 army museums and collections.
The charity’s current vice-patron is Lord Soames, grandson of Winston Churchill; it formerly boasted Prince Andrew as a patron.
When approached for comment, the AMOT said: “There is an ongoing police investigation, and we are not in a position to comment.”