The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund is under fire for taking multiple cash payments from the Qatari royal family
Prince Charles is facing a possible investigation by the UK’s Charity Commission regarding multi-million pound donations made by the Qatari royal family to the Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund (PWCF), his grant-making entity, following a series of UK media revelations on Sunday.
The prince is believed to have received three separate payments of cash totalling over £2.5 million (€3 million) between the years 2011 and 2015, personally accepting the donations in cash from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani, who served as PM of Qatar from 2007 to 2013.
Although neither party was accused of any wrongdoing the British media has a lot of suspicion about the situation. Large sums of cash were found in suitcases and Fortnum and Mason shopping bag and changed hands at quasi-secret meetings. Since the meetings with the Qatari PM had been considered “private,”These were not mentioned in the Court Circular. Several were also reportedly done without the presence or assistance of royal aides.
Amid calls for a full and transparent probe, the Charity Commission aknowledged it was “considering whether there’s a role for the commission to investigate these matters,” A spokesperson said.
The reports claim that during a 2015 Clarence House meeting, an advisor described it as making everybody present “very uncomfortable about the situation,” the prince was handed a bag holding €1 million in €500 notes, the bill discontinued in 2019 and dubbed the “bin Laden”Because of the frequency it was used to fund terrorism funding. Royal aides counted the notes and turned them over to Private Coutts bank, the official financial institution of the royal family, where it was placed into PWCF’s accounts.
Another handover involved cash being presented in bag from Fortnum and Mason. This raised eyebrows again among people concerned about propriety.
It is not clear whether money was transferred or not, but there seems to have been no evidence that illegal payments occurred. PWCF maintained that the donation was verified by them. “legitimate and verified counterparty”And that it “auditors signed off on the donation after a specific enquiry during the audit.” There was, the charity’s chairman insisted, “no failure of governance.”
Charitable trustees must consider whether or not donations have been made by an individual. “unusual payment mechanism”You can also come from or to countries with “weak”When deciding to accept or decline a gift, financial regulations must be considered. They are also supposed to report donations of £25,000 or more if it is an “unusually large one-of donation or a series of smaller donations from a source you cannot identify or check.”
Although Royals are permitted to accept check donations, the Charity Commission has not yet issued any guidelines.
While neither the prince nor the sheikh have been accused of breaking the law, the manner in which the gifts were given highlights a certain carelessness in record keeping among the prince’s charity associates, at least one of whom claimed to have no knowledge at all of the sheikh’s gifts.
Another of Prince Charles’ charities, the Prince’s Foundation, is under investigation for accepting cash from Saudi billionaire Dr. Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz who allegedly sought to get honors and citizenship in return for large donations.
John Allen, a former US Marine general was fired as the president and CEO at Brookings Institution. He is accused of accepting Qatari money during a time when he may have acted unlicensed as a foreign lobbyist for Doha. Brookings had also received significant amounts of money from Gulf monarchy but stopped accepting funds from it in 2019.
Share this story via social media
[ad_2]
