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25/04/2003
Probe into Galloway's charity launched
The Charity Commission has announced that it is to investigate a complaint relating to the charity created by under-fire Labour MP George Galloway.
The commission said that the probe centred around a complaint that the Mariam Appeal may have used charitable funds for non-charitable purposes.
The Charity Commission's Director of Operations Simon Gillespie said: "This evaluation is in its very early stages. We have started the process of fact-finding to gain more information about the Mariam Appeal and what its purposes were. If some or all of the funds were charitable, we will need to establish that they were used only for charitable purposes."
While the Attorney General and the Charity Commission have concurrent powers in ensuring the proper administration of charities they have agreed that the Charity Commission, as the statutory regulator of charities, will take this matter forward.
The Mariam Appeal – named after Mariam Hamza, an Iraqi child suffering from leukaemia – was launched in 1998 by the MP for Kelvin South. The charity subsequently developed into a campaign against international sanctions on Iraq, and in the course of promoting the issue, Mr Galloway travelled to a number of countries lobbying international opinion.
George Galloway has been the subject of allegations this week, published in the Daily Telegraph, claiming that he had a financial relationship with Saddam Hussein's regime.
Mr Galloway says that the reports are a fantasy and has begun legal action against the newspaper.
(GMcG)
The commission said that the probe centred around a complaint that the Mariam Appeal may have used charitable funds for non-charitable purposes.
The Charity Commission's Director of Operations Simon Gillespie said: "This evaluation is in its very early stages. We have started the process of fact-finding to gain more information about the Mariam Appeal and what its purposes were. If some or all of the funds were charitable, we will need to establish that they were used only for charitable purposes."
While the Attorney General and the Charity Commission have concurrent powers in ensuring the proper administration of charities they have agreed that the Charity Commission, as the statutory regulator of charities, will take this matter forward.
The Mariam Appeal – named after Mariam Hamza, an Iraqi child suffering from leukaemia – was launched in 1998 by the MP for Kelvin South. The charity subsequently developed into a campaign against international sanctions on Iraq, and in the course of promoting the issue, Mr Galloway travelled to a number of countries lobbying international opinion.
George Galloway has been the subject of allegations this week, published in the Daily Telegraph, claiming that he had a financial relationship with Saddam Hussein's regime.
Mr Galloway says that the reports are a fantasy and has begun legal action against the newspaper.
(GMcG)
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