11 August 2020
Charitable legacy challenges – preventing successful claims when wills include charitable bequests
Legacy disputes are on the rise and may present a significant threat to the principle of testamentary freedom. High-net-worth family advisors should therefore be alive to the risk of a legacy dispute and, where possible, ensure appropriate steps are taken to lessen the likelihood of a successful claim.
30 April 2020
Best practice guide for charities conducting private prosecutions
The Charities Commission has recently warned that fraudsters are exploiting the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in order to carry out fraud and cybercrime against charities. Unfortunately, in our experience, the likelihood of the police taking action against these individuals is low. In the current climate it is easy to understand why the use of private prosecutions is firmly on the rise. In the past, some charities have been criticised for having an overzealous approach to the conduct of their private prosecutions. In this blog, we highlight the importance of taking a few simple steps to ensure that charities who conduct private prosecutions are beyond reproach.
29 April 2020
How to guard against and respond to fraud in the charity sector
It has been widely reported that fraudsters are currently seeking to exploit the situation with COVID-19. Alarmingly, Action Fraud reported an increase in coronavirus related fraud by 400% in March. In this blog we outline some of the critical questions, which all charities, irrespective of size and stature, should be asking themselves to identify areas of risk and detect fraud and how to best respond if the charity has been a victim of fraud.
15 May 2018
Insider fraud in charities: prevention is better than cure
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has published a report outlining its findings into how insider fraud, namely fraud committed by a trustee, staff member or volunteer, is affecting charities.