Cash reserves fell sharply from £66,651 in March 2023 to just £672 a year later

TFN can reveal thousands of pounds went missing from a Glasgow charity after the regulator lifted an assets freeze on its bank account, making it file for provisional liquidation. 

Pollokshields Development Agency (PDA), which runs lunch clubs, outreach and supports the area’s multi-ethnic communities, entered provisional liquidation just weeks after failing to provide its annual accounts to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

It has also been subject of a police probe after former employees and trustees made allegations of embezzlement.

Now TFN can exclusively reveal that cash reserves at PDA fell sharply from £66,651 in March 2023 to just £672 a year later after OSCR inexplicably lifted a ban on bank account withdrawals.

The current trustees only gained access to the charity’s bank account in August 2023, suggesting that the depletion occurred within seven months.

TFN has seen documents showing that trustees at PDA filed micro-entity accounts last month with Companies House for the financial year ending 31 March 2024.

The micro accounts show that PDA’s cash reserves fell sharply from £66,651 in March 2023 to just £672 a year later. These accounts, lacking the level of financial detail required by OSCR, have not been filed with the charity regulator.

Failure to file full accounts with OSCR constitutes a breach of charity law.

Separately, serious discrepancies have been uncovered in the full annual accounts submitted on 8 March 2024 for the year ending 31 March 2023.

According to the accounts, staff travel expenses amounted to £7,642.34. However, documentation seen by TFN reveals that actual travel claims for the same period totalled only £1,129.90.

Total staff expenses for that year were £4,076.76, less than the amount recorded for travel alone. By comparison, the charity’s average annual travel expenses between 2018 and 2022 were just £887.40.

The 2023 figure represents an unexplained eightfold increase, despite limited staffing and minimal project activity.

The same accounts report £94,651.17 under "Wages and NIC". There is a further £13,691 under “Other Wages”. 

There is limited detail supporting this figure in documents seen by TFN.

TFN can also reveal backdated mileage claims for several thousand miles were submitted by a trustee-turned staff member without clear breakdowns or supporting documentation.

In addition, thousands of pounds were withdrawn in cash from the charity’s account, mostly from ATMs, without receipts or explanation.

A source told TFN, PDA only operated in Pollokshields and claiming milage by any trustee was rare if only because it had an EV minibus and directors very rarely used personal vehicles for charity business.

When questioned by Police Scotland, the current office bearers reportedly stated that all funds were used for charitable purposes and that the accounts had been externally audited, a claim later found to be incorrect.

The charity’s accountants, Shah & Co, confirmed that they produced accounts based on the figures provided by the trustees and do not provide an audit opinion on the accounts.  

The charity’s financial collapse followed a sudden takeover by the current trustees, which coincided with OSCR’s prolonged inquiry.

Tensions rapidly escalated with the former board following the mileage expenses being raised. 

A board meeting was scheduled for 26 April 2023 to discuss the alleged irregularities but on 25 April a special general meeting was hastily arranged by the same staff member (now no longer a trustee), with only three hours’ notice.

At this inquorate meeting the chair and vice chair were removed under the pretext of gross misconduct after an individual gained unauthorised access to PDA’s online account from Companies House.

The pre-planned board meeting and staff discussion were then sabotaged. The remaining trustees were removed by Friday of that week with unproven allegations again used as justification.

Ongoing concerns remain over opaque financial practices under the new trustees’ stewardship.

In a lengthy series of correspondence with TFN, Jahangheer Hussain (pictured above), PDA chair, who is described on the charity's website as "passionate about promoting equality and diversity, human rights and the rule of law", said all expenses and cash were accounted for, while threatening legal action should our story be published.

In one email, Hussain blames the charity’s demise on a former board member and that PDA was a “victim” of this person’s actions.

He said: “Any implication that these [expenses] claims were fraudulent or inappropriate is defamatory without direct evidence of wrongdoing.

“It is also misleading to present bank statements post-freeze without context. The bank account had been frozen for several months April to October, with months of unpaid salaries, supplier invoices, and charitable obligations accumulating due to (redacted name’s) unilateral action.

“The funds released were used to settle these as corroborated by our internal checks, Shah & Co and board records.”

However when asked to provide these invoices as evidence, Hussain reiterated the charity’s accountant had verified all claims and refused to do so.

Hussein is named as director in several companies. One of his companies, which provided accounting and tax services, was dissolved in December 2023. There is no public indication that his other companies are connected to this matter.

Dr Atif Bashir, vice chair, is also a co-director with fellow trustee Dr Hussein Ibrahim at an Edinburgh-based company. There is no public indication that their mutual company has any connection to this matter.

Asim Beg, treasurer and former chair, is a debt and benefit consultant. Beg signed both the 2022–23 and 2023–24 accounts.

He was director of four dissolved companies. There is no public indication that his dissolved companies have any connection to this matter.

It remains unclear why OSCR lifted the freeze on the charity’s bank account in 2023 and it is not clear what safeguards OSCR had put in place to protect the charity’s assets while the inquiry was ongoing.

According to our sources, OSCR was explicitly warned in advance that doing so would result in the account being emptied, which is what appears to have occurred.

Scottish Greens councillor Jon Molyneux, who represents Pollokshields Ward 6, commented: "This whole affair is deeply regrettable, especially when people have tried to blow the whistle over concerns dating back several years.

"It's vital that investigations get to the bottom of what happened here, quickly, especially if there is any potential of criminality.

"There are also serious questions for OSCR to answer about why it has taken so to conclude its investigation, why it lifted its own block on the charity's financial dealings when there was an obvious risk of funds being run down, and why it has said next to nothing publicly, always hiding behind a position that it cannot comment on live investigations."

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, regional MSP for Glasgow, had been informed by OSCR that it remains in communication with the charity’s trustees and therefore cannot comment on the live investigation.

However, this position stands in contradiction to a public statement by the provisional liquidators, who confirmed that the trustees are refusing to accept responsibility for either the operation or finances of the charity and have “abdicated responsibility”.

This has prompted the MSP to urgently seek clarification from OSCR.

An OSCR spokesperson said: “In May 2023, OSCR opened an inquiry into Pollokshields Development Agency following concerns that trustees had been removed and replaced in a manner inconsistent with the charity’s constitution.

“We were also informed that the current trustees were continuing the charity’s activities without access to its funds. On 1 June 2023, OSCR issued directions to temporarily restrict the charity from undertaking activities and instructed its bank not to release any assets without our consent.

“These measures were taken to safeguard the charity’s property while inquiries were ongoing. After reviewing information provided by the trustees around this time, OSCR determined that it was no longer necessary to maintain these directions and subsequently revoked them in August 2023, as stated in our interim inquiry report.

“Our inquiry remains ongoing. This is a complex case, with legal proceedings and disputes between individuals associated with the charity contributing to the time taken to reach a conclusion.

“In line with our published policies and procedures, we are unable to comment further while the inquiry is active.”

PDA has received more than £1 million in public funding over the last 10 years of operation.

Glasgow City Council, one of PDA’s funders, did not respond to a request to comment while a spokesperson for the National Lottery Communities Fund said: “In line with our standard procedure for organisations under statutory investigation, payments to the group have been suspended.”

A source close to PDA told TFN: “This unfolding scandal raises urgent questions not only about the conduct of those entrusted with public and charitable funds, but also about the effectiveness of regulatory oversight.

“As confidence in the charity’s governance collapses and public money appears to have vanished without explanation, the silence from those responsible is becoming untenable.

“With trust in community organisations and the regulatory framework at stake, the calls for transparency, accountability and formal investigation are no longer just reasonable, they are unavoidable.”