User talk:SmilingFace/Sandbox/mj

At the risk of stepping in to a controversial topic that appears to have had a few edit wars, I've taken the liberty of rewriting the introductory paragraphs. I think this whole article needs much work, but can only take it one step at at time. I am relatively new to WikiPedia, but I have tried to write it in a encyclopedic NPOV manner. I hope you'll agree.

I have included all but one of the existing references (which was effectively a duplicate) and added a couple more. There is plenty of scope for more or better ones.

There is probably too much material in there, and some should be moved to the body of the article at a later stage.

For the rest of the article, I don't feel that the current starting point of identity is helpful. A section on history seems to be the best place to begin!

WOuld now be a good time for someone to archive this talk page?

Financial Irregularities

The original charity behind Kingsway International Christian Centre (The King's Ministries, registered charity number 1014084 ) was investigated by the Charity Commission of England and Wales, the governmental body that regulates English charities, between 2002 and 2005. A report of the inquiry was released in October 2005 , and information in this section not explicitly referenced is taken directly from this report.

At an early stage in the investigation, it was considered that the charity's assets were at risk. Control was removed from the existing leadership (including Ashimolowo) and placed in the hands of an independent external company (the accountancy and management consultancy practice KPMG), who regularised the charity's affairs.

A news story from during the inquiry records Ashimolowo condemning the Charity Commission and claiming their motives were partly racist.

The inquiry concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity. English law places particular requirements on organisations granted charitable status, in order to protect against misuse of funds and safeguard the good reputation of charities. The transgressions uncovered by the inquiry were of the basic principles that apply to English charities. In particular, a strict separation is required between those in control of a charity (known as trustees) and those who receive benefits (including employment) from the charity. The funds of a charity have to be used solely for its stated charitable objectives. All financial arrangements (especially potential conflicts of interest) have to be handled in an open and transparent manner.

In breach of the above, it was found that Matthew Ashimolowo acted as both a trustee and a paid employee of the charity, and was responsible for approving payments and benefits to himself and his wife, Yemisi. Benefits received included free accommodation for himself and family, a £120,000 birthday party including an £80,000 luxury car, purchase of a Florida timeshare property for £13,000 using a charity credit card, and over half a million pounds paid out to Ashimolowo's private companies, which were operated from church property and had unclear business relationships with the charity.

There is no information in the public domain to indicate whether the law was broken deliberately or out of negligence, but it is notable that the report records that, on the day the investigators visited the charity, boxes of financial paperwork were being loaded into a car, which the trustees present claimed were being moved to storage, but were actually material relating to the current financial year. The relevant laws and regulations are supplied to charities upon registration and are freely available.

In accordance with established practice, Matthew Ashimolowo was not prosecuted but has been required to repay a sum of £200,000 as restitution to the charity, and although other unauthorised funds were also received by him, the Charity Commission decided it would be against the best interests of the charity to pursue these.

A new charitable company (Kingsway International Christian Centre, registered charity number 1102114 ) was created during the inquiry and Ashimolowo was employed by it as the Senior Pastor.

After the conclusion of the inquiry, Matthew Ashimolowo said he was vindicated as no fraud was found. This statement, whilst strictly true, does not give the entire story and could therefore be considered as misleading. The offences committed were not fraud but breaches of regulations relating to the management of charities and the use of charitable funds, and Ashimolowo was directly involved. Ashimolowo criticises the Charity Commission for not permitting him to be paid a salary during the investigation, but in the circumstances, where it was suspected (and later proven) that he had received substantial sums from the charity in breach of the law, their approach can be understood.

Ashimolowo has also claimed that lavish benefits for pastors of large congregations is a distinctive practice of black-led churches (no evidence to support this claim has been presented) and there is therefore racial discrimination embodied in English charity law. However, registration as a charity is not compulsory for any religious organisation (some, such as the Church of Scientology, are deemed to be non-charitable under English law and operate as businesses) and the relevant laws and regulations applying to charities are freely available.