UK charity that ran celebrated Muslim school found guilty of misconduct

Charity Commission froze the Mohiuddin Trust's accounts during the investigation

The homepage of the official website for the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

A charitable trust that operated the once renowned Mohiuddin International Girls’ College in Birmingham, has been found guilty of misconduct.

The Mohiuddin Trust, which is based in Birmingham, was investigated by the charity watchdog over financial and administrative concerns.

It followed the death of its founder and spiritual leader, Alauddin Siddiqui, in February 2017 which had led to internal disputes between some trustees, according to the Charity Commission.

The Trust was running the Mohiuddin International Girls’ College, which was one of the UK's largest boarding schools at the time. It has since closed.

The inquiry examined the ongoing dispute, the financial management of the charity, whether there had been misconduct by those in control and whether they had properly exercised their legal duties and responsibilities under charity law in the administration of the charity.

It led to the appointment of an interim manager and the charity's accounts been frozen.

"Following the opening of the inquiry the competing parties still failed to seek mediation with each other as the Commission had advised," the Commission said in a statement.

" As a result, the inquiry determined that it should use its powers to appoint an Interim manager."

The manager was then charged with appointing new trustees to the board to ensure the charity could continue its work.

"The inquiry concluded that there had been misconduct in the administration of the charity by those who had been collectively acting as the trustees of the charity during the period of the internal dispute," the Commission said.

"The inquiry was not able to determine individual responsibility for the misconduct and/or mismanagement that occurred during the period of the internal dispute.

"Due to the misconduct identified, the inquiry took regulatory action by first protecting the charity’s funds and then appointing an interim manager to take full control of the charity. She has now restored the charity to appropriate levels of governance and new trustees have been recruited to manage the charity."

The Mohiuddin Trust says it is now committed to rebuilding a Birmingham mosque and has a new board of trustees.

"The candidates chosen to be trustees are all very enthusiastic, keen and passionate about carrying out the work of the late founder and making the Trust as successful as possible," it said in a statement.

"This is not the end, but rather the beginning of the next phases of the Trust’s journey.

"The new trustees will be looking to set the key strategic priorities for the Trust moving forward and this will include the rebuilding of the mosque at Victoria Road in Birmingham, which will form the community hub for the Trust in the UK. There will be engagement with the family of the late founder and we hope they will continue to be involved in the Trust’s future.

"It is hoped that this update will bring some comfort to the supporters of the Trust."