Police are looking into allegations of fraud made against the League Against Cruel Sports, Third Sector has learned.
Surrey Police confirmed it was investigating fraud claims after Andy Knott, the charity’s former chief executive, alleged the charity’s fundraising had been misleading.
Third Sector reported last week that Knott, who left the charity in March after raising concerns with the board and senior management about alleged political interference in the campaign work of the charity, had filed an employment tribunal claim against the charity.
Knott, who had been chief executive of the charity since January 2018, alleged that the Labour Party was “interfering in the strategy and operations of the charity”, including through Dan Norris, the charity’s former chair, who was last week elected as the Labour MP for North-East Somerset and Hanham.
Knott said that in February, he was asked to keep quiet if Labour dropped a previous commitment to close loopholes in existing fox-hunting laws.
The Labour manifesto subsequently included a commitment to ban trail hunting, but did not promise to close loopholes in the Hunting Act 2004.
Knott alleged the charity’s communications with supporters around its general election appeal and some messages relating to his departure from the charity were misleading.
A spokesperson for Surrey Police said: “We received a report relating to allegations of fraud offences on 10 June.
“An investigation into these allegations is underway and enquiries remain ongoing.
“We are unable to comment any further in relation to this matter at this time.”
It is understood that the police have not yet contacted anyone at the charity.
Knott said: “This is not an issue of hunting, but rather one of trust in charities.
“Supporters and donors to any charitable cause expect their money to be used for the purposes advertised, to the exclusion of anything else.
“They expect charities to be truthful about what they have achieved and what they know to be in or out of reach, and in the case of the League, what they have sacrificed at the altar of political interference.”
A spokesperson for the League Against Cruel Sports said: “As a charity, the League is governed by rules that ensure we are apolitical in every aspect of our work, which in practice means we ask every party the same thing – to help us protect animals from persecution through so-called sport.
“We reiterate that the League is aware of certain statements being made by a former member of staff, but we are unable to comment further due to protections that safeguard all current and former employees’ data.
“Our focus remains on lobbying the new government to properly ban hunting by eradicating loopholes in the current law, banning trail hunting, and introducing custodial sentences for those caught illegally hunting.
“We are working hard, together with our dedicated supporters and numerous coalition partners, to see this change made as soon as possible post-election.”
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We have previously assessed issues brought to us by the charity arising from concerns raised by an employee of the charity. We determined, based on the information available, that there was no role for the Charity Commission at that time.”
– This article was updated on 11 July 2024 after the Charity Commission updated its statement