The Charity Commission has found serious financial mismanagement, and a lack of oversight and control over charitable funds, by the former and current trustees of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International (MFM).
MFM was registered in 2003 and is a Christian evangelical church with 50 branches across the country running worship in person and online, and community support activities, and is the UK arm of Nigerian headquartered MFM Worldwide.
In the UK it operates through a network of individual branches across England, Scotland and Wales, and each has a large amount of autonomy over activities and finances.
Concerns about financial governance were first raised in 2017 when whistleblowers reported ‘serious incidents over potential misappropriation of charitable funds and possible theft of Gift Aid made by the then trustees’, the Charity Commission said.
The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry in March 2018 and found that the trustees of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International ‘could not demonstrate that they had adequate oversight or control over more than 100 bank accounts operated by individual branches of the charity, with charity money at risk across the organisation’s extensive network’.
Investigators discovered that branch bank accounts ‘had been opened without the knowledge of the then trustees. The books and records visit identified at least 100 bank accounts held by the charity’s branches over which the former trustees could not demonstrate that they had any oversight or control’.
The inquiry found that there was a ‘long history of the former trustees’ failure to act in accordance with their legal duty to comply with their charity’s governing document and the law’.
In 2019 the Commission appointed an interim manager to work alongside the remaining trustees to implement essential financial controls.
It took five years for the interim manager to complete his work, and it was not until 2024 he was able to step down ‘due to the complexity of the reform needed at the charity and the delays caused by legal proceedings’, the regulator said.
‘Many of the charity’s financial issues stemmed from its complex structure, which had grown from a handful of branches to over 90 locations nationwide, without the corresponding governance improvements,’ the Charity Commission stated.
The inquiry found that substantial funds had been held in a particular bank account, but the purpose of those funds were unclear. Concerns about the risks of misapplication or misappropriation of those funds resulted in the Commission making a freezing order under s76(3)(d) of the Charity Act in February 2022 to protect the funds.
Each branch of the charity operated autonomously and made significant financial decisions, including property purchases and lease agreements, without trustee knowledge or authorisation.
‘It is clear that the governance of the charity had not adapted as the charity grew,’ the Charity Commission said. ‘The inquiry found that when the IM was appointed the existing systems for governance were ad hoc, ill-defined, and not subject to appropriate checks and controls.’
This lack of oversight by trustees led to financial losses for the charity, for example, some branches occupied property without obtaining planning permission, which led to costly legal action by a council in one instance.
In addition, the main trustee, described as the ‘general overseer’, who was not named in the Charity Commission statutory report, ‘exercised too much authority over the charity and the other trustees’.
There was also a failure to implement financial controls over branches, with a lack of reporting and ‘limited oversight’.
The Charity Commission stated: ‘The branches did not always understand what was expected of them,’ adding they ‘often made decisions about expenditure, including significant property purchases, without the knowledge of or authorisation by the trustees’.
The charity’s income and expenditure in its latest accounts for financial year ending 31 December 2024, recorded income of £2.37m from donations and legacies, and expenditure of £2.02m, which the charity said had ‘not returned to pre-covid levels’. Income for financial year end 2019 was £4.58m, with charitable activities totalling £4.1m and £1.8m in restricted reserves.
The charity missed accounts filing deadlines for seven years from 2012 to 2019 with annual accounts, trustee reports and annual returns all submitted five months or more late.
Amy Spiller, head of investigations at the Charity Commission said: ‘The rapid growth of a charity comes with correspondingly larger potential risks.
‘In this case, the trustees’ fundamental failure to maintain financial controls meant donor funds were at serious risk across their entire network.
‘Following the intervention of the Commission and the interim manager, the trustees were better able to implement essential reforms, meaning the charity can now operate effectively and focus on delivering its charitable objects.’
The original trustees stepped down in January 2021, and were replaced with a new set of eight trustees, the latest three appointed in December 2024.
Decision Charity Inquiry: Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International
