The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, has concluded its inquiry into Organisation of Blind Africans & Caribbeans (OBAC), finding four trustees responsible for serious failings
The charity was set up to support blind and partially sighted members of African and Caribbean communities and provide services which included immigration advice, education and training.
An official inquiry report, published today, found that four trustees of the charity had not sufficiently overseen the actions of the charity’s CEO, Ibukun Olashore, including by allowing her to continue acting as CEO following a serious conviction. The lack of action by the trustees enabled the CEO to have sole access to charity funds and use the charity to offer immigration advice illegally. As a result, the regulator has disqualified four trustees.
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The Commission has now removed the charity from its public register after it was struck off by Companies House.
Background
In March 2021, the charity’s CEO was charged with serious criminal offences. In April 2022, she was convicted of conspiracy to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national and of conspiracy to possess/control identity documents with intent. As such, she was automatically disqualified from being a charity trustee or holding a position with senior management functions within a charity.
At her sentencing, the judge concluded that the CEO used the charity ‘as a front’ and that material evidence showed Ms Olashore was “using OBAC as a way of disguising [her] dishonest activities and potentially finding people with whom [she] could take money.”
The regulator opened an inquiry after the trustees repeatedly failed to respond to requests for information, including a formal direction to submit information by legal order. It also had suspicions that the CEO remained at the charity despite her conviction.
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Findings
In its report, the Commission finds that:
The Commission finds all of these failures amount to serious misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration, governance and management of the charity. The report, which contains the full findings, is available on gov.uk.
The regulator gave the trustees the opportunity to remedy their failings by issuing the charity a Regulatory Action Plan but the trustees failed to act. As a result, the Commission has disqualified the four most recently serving trustees. Ruth Bishop, Diib Jama and Rasheed Bello have been disqualified for 5 years. Dwight Watson has been disqualified for 3 years.
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The charity’s CEO is automatically disqualified indefinitely.
Amy Spiller, Head of Investigations at the Charity Commission, said:
ENDS
Notes to Editors