A REGULATOR has ordered a statutory inquiry into a Worcester charity after it failed to submit it finances for four years.

The Charity Commission has taken action against the Jalalabad Association, based in Vincent Road, Worcester, over potential mismanagement and failure to submit accounts.

The Jalalabad Association, whose objectives include advancing Islam in the Hereford and Worcester area, was unavailable for comment.

The Charity Commission investigated the Jalalabad Association and a number of other charities after it failed to submit necessary financial information to the regulator for five consecutive years.

The charity eventually handed over a set of accounts and a trustees’ report for the financial year ending March 2013, however this was 1,735 days late. The Jalalabad Association has still not given the regulator its returns and accounts for the years 2012 and 2014 to 2017.

The Charity Commission will is now investigating whether the association’s trustees are complying with their legal duties in relation to governance, management and administration of the charity.

It will also examine whether the charity has complied with a previous order to hand over information to the commission and overhaul its approach to finances.

A spokesman for the regulator said: "Trustees have a legal obligation to submit a charity’s annual financial accounts on time and in full.

"The public want and deserve to see how charities spend their money, so it is vital that charities are transparent about their finances in order to encourage public confidence.”

A statutory inquiry means the commission can freeze a charity's bank accounts, appoint an interim manager, suspend or remove trustees and compel a charity to provide evidence under oath and attend a meeting.

The Charity Commission said it may open an inquiry if there is a 'high risk' to public trust in a charity or if there is evidence of misconduct or mismanagement.

The regulator opened a statutory inquiry into the charity on December 12.