The UK Charity Commission is investigating prominent Muslim registered charity Al-Khair Foundation following reports of alleged Hamas connections, the ombudsman announced Friday.
Al-Khair was set up to advance religion, promote education, support social welfare, build religious harmony and offer relief to victims of disasters.
However, last month, the Commission said it received a complaint alleging the charity and its partners had connections to Hamas, and had also funded Hamas. The regulator immediately started examining the serious concerns raised and gathered more information to inform its assessment. The Commission has now escalated its engagement to a statutory inquiry.
This follows the arrest of Mohammad Yousef Hasna, an individual employed by Al-Khair Foundation, in the UK last week.
Hasna was extradited to the US and charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas. The Commission said it is considering all relevant information as part of its investigation, which will include verifying his connection to the charity and wider allegations made about the charity.
Charity's gross income nearly doubled following Oct. 7 massacre
In the announcement, the US Department of Justice said Hasna provided financing and commodities to Hamas through what was identified as a Sham Charity. However, the Telegraph obtained the indictment and found that “the Sham Charity” is named throughout as Al-Khair.
Additionally, in the FBI indictment, Al-Khair's gross income “nearly doubled following the October 7 Hamas Massacres”, rising from £31.28m to £74.79m.
The charity recorded an income of over £74 million pounds in the financial year ending 31 July 2025. Due to the concerns of possible serious risk to charitable funds, the UK Charity Commission has issued a legal order restricting certain financial transactions by the charity without the Commission’s prior consent.
The investigation will seek to establish the nature and extent of the charity’s links to Hasna, whether trustees have carried out appropriate checks and due diligence on international partners, and whether trustees are effectively monitoring the end use of funds internationally and have appropriate policies and procedures in place to protect funds from risk of misuse.
As charity regulator, the Commission cannot investigate criminal matters. If evidence of criminal activity is found, this will be referred to the police, which has the power to investigate.
London counter-terror police confirm charity probe
Separately, Counter Terror Policing London (CTP) confirmed investigations into the charity, with two search warrants on addresses in Croydon, South London.
Al-Khair Foundation said Friday that it is cooperating fully with the statutory inquiry and is taking the matter seriously.
"Everywhere we work, we are firmly committed to ensuring that the funds entrusted to us by our generous donors are used for their intended purpose: meeting the humanitarian needs of poor and marginalized people in the communities we serve," it said.
"In Gaza and around the world, we work hard to maintain robust governance, compliance and oversight processes designed to help ensure that aid reaches its intended beneficiaries."