The Australian Charity and Not-for-profits Commission has begun investigating fraudulent charities.
Fifty-six charities in Australia were investigated over fraud allegations in the first seven months the national charity regulator began operating.
The Australian Charity and Not-for-profits Commission has released itsfirst annual report revealing about four new charities are registered every day in Australia.
Almost 60,000 charities have registered with the regulator and it received 245 complaints of fraud in the report’s time period. Of those 56 were escalated for investigation.
The regulator would not go into specific details about the cases as it could identify the charities involved but confirmed 27% of the complaints were to do with charities not being aligned to a charitable cause, 11% were to do with governance issues and 5% were allegations that the charity was being operated for private benefit. –The Guardian
According to the Annual Report of the 56 charities being investigated:
I know of at least one charity in Australia that ticks all 5 stated reasons for being investigated, and there’s probably some stuff under the “other” category as well. The Australian Vaccination Network, the nations leading anti-medicine cult (despite it’s deceptive name) has been engaged in fraudulent activity for years, and primarily serves to make a profit for it’s founder.
Lets check the list.
1. Activities involving fraud: Check, Check
2. Activities not aligned with charitable purpose: Check, Check
3. Governance issues: If that includes the inability to keep records and hold AGMs then Check!
4. Charity operated for private benefit: Check
5. Inadequate record keeping: Check, Check
I am hopeful that one of the charities being investigated is the AVN, and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.