LONDON (AFP) – The family of a 100-year-old United Kingdom (UK) war veteran who became a global hero for his fundraising efforts during the COVID pandemic gained “significant” financial benefit from links to a charity set up in his name, a watchdog said yesterday.
Captain Tom Moore caught the British public’s imagination during the COVID-19 lockdown when he took to raising nearly GBP33 million (USD41.7 million) by walking up and down his garden using a walking frame.
Images of the stooped but dapper veteran with his military service medals pinned to his blazer lifted the nation’s spirits as it struggled with a mounting death toll and fears about the future.
But in a 30-page report, the Charity Commission said there had been repeated instances of misconduct by Moore’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin.
It accused the couple of a misleading implication that they would make sizeable donations from a book deal to the charity.
An advance of around GBP1.4 million (USD1.7 million) was paid to a company of which the Ingram-Moores were directors for a three-book deal, though none of the money went to the foundation, the commission said.
Moore raised the astonishing sum for UK health service charities by completing 100 lengths of his garden before his 100th birthday in April 2020.
Queen Elizabeth II knighted him and his death in February 2021 was marked by a nationwide round of applause with Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part and Members of Parliament bowing their heads in Parliament.
The commission opened a case into the foundation in 2021, shortly after Moore’s death. It launched a formal probe in 2022.
