The First-tier Tribunal (Charity) has dismissed the disqualification appeal from a former church pastor who was banned from being a charity trustee for ten years after the Charity Commission concluded, inter alia, that he had used charitable funds for foreign trips that did not appear to be for charitable purposes.
In Martin C Phelps v The Charity Commission for England and Wales [2019] FTT CA/2019/0004, Mr Phelps was not a trustee of the Rhema Church London (‘the Charity’) but was employed as its pastor. In July 2017 he was suspended by the Interim Manager appointed by the Commission, pending investigation of alleged disciplinary breaches and serious misconduct. Continue reading