Charity convoys used to funnel cash to terrorists, Charity Commission warns

Charity aid convoys are being used to funnel cash to terrorists, the Charity Commission has warned. 

The regulator said that convoys could be "abused" by terror sympathisers who use them to supply money and other resources to extremist groups. 

It warned British charities that the convoys are not "an effective means of delivering humanitarian aid" and added that charities which used them would be subject to "additional regulatory scrutiny". 

Last December two men were convicted of funding terrorism after using charity convoys to Syria to supply thousands of pounds to jihadi organisations. 

Syed Hoque, of Stoke-on-Trent, and Mashoud Miah, of east London, funnelled £3,000 to Hoque's nephew who was a member of the al-Nusra Front, a jihadi organisation in the region, via a British aid convoy, in July 2013. 

Hoque then supplied a further £1,500 via another convoy that December - the same one which included Alan Henning, a British aid worker who was kidnapped and later killed by so-called Islamic State. 

In a report the Commission said aid convoys had been used by Hoque as "a cover for his support of an individual involved in terrorism in Syria".

A charity, Shade, had provided him with an "open ended" letter of credential which allowed him to travel to Syria, with "little or no due diligence or oversight having been completed", the Commission said. 

He wore t-shirts promoting the charity while in Syria and appeared in posts and photographs on its social media and website.

Following its intervention the charity cut all ties with Hoque and "recognised that there were failings on their part in issuing an open letter of credential to Mr Hoque". 

Another organisation, Helping Humanity, which was not a registered charity but was raising "charitable funds", was connected to Miah. It has since closed down.

During the investigation police found documents such as meeting minutes which suggested that Miah was "closely involved in the organisation’s administration," the Commission said. 

It has the same name as a registered charity, established in 2015, but the two are not connected. 

In its report about Miah the Commission said: "There is a risk that charitable aid convoys to Syria may be abused for non-charitable purposes, including facilitating travel for fighters or providing support for those involved in terrorism. 

"This is of serious regulatory concern to the Commission and impacts on public trust and confidence in those charities and the charitable sector more generally."