Scotia Aid charity has assets frozen after allegations of financial 'misconduct'

Scotia Aid Sierra Leone has had its assets frozen

A CONTROVERSIAL aid organisation exposed by The Sunday Post has had its assets frozen by charity regulators.

Scotia Aid Sierra Leone claims to help street children in the impoverished African country.

But whistleblowers have claimed the charity exploited a business rates loophole to make £1 million a year.

Just a fraction of that income was passed to the needy in Sierra Leone, it’s been claimed.

After a wide ranging investigation, the Scottish Charity Regulator OSCR has secured a court order freezing the organisations assets and suspending its management team.

An interim report has accused Scotia Aid’s trustees of “misconduct” and raised further concerns over payments made to senior management of the organisation.

The report says: “Our initial inquiries gave us concerns about the activities and financial management of the charity.

“It appeared that the trustees were not acting in the interests of the charity and with the care and diligence that it is reasonable to expect of a person who is managing the affairs of another person, which is a legal duty of a charity trustee.”

The report adds: “While our inquiries are still ongoing, on the basis of the information we have gathered so far, we are concerned that there is misconduct in the administration of the charity, and it is necessary for us to take action to protect its assets.”

Scotia Aid as set up in 2010 in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, by chairman Dan Houston, 62, with the aim of improving lives in Sierra Leone.