Ingram-Moores ‘benefited significantly’ from family link to Captain Tom Foundation, report finds

The family of pandemic fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore gained “significant” financial benefit from links to a charity set up in his name, a report has found.

Hannah Ingram-Moore, the veteran‘s daughter, and her husband Colin carried out repeated instances of misconduct, according to the Charity Commission.

The pair have already been banned from being charity trustees.

And a 30-page report published on Thursday, after a two-year inquiry, set out their failings in detail.

These include:

• “Disingenuous” statements from Mrs Ingram-Moore about not being offered a six-figure sum to become the charity’s chief executive. While she may not have been offered this, the commission said it had seen written evidence that she had set out expectations for a £150,000 remuneration package before taking on the role.

• A misleading implication that donations from book sales would be made to the foundation. The commission said the public “would understandably feel misled” to learn that sales of his autobiography did not benefit the charity. An advance of almost £1.5m was paid to Club Nook, a company of which the Ingram-Moores are directors, for a three-book deal.

• A claim by Mrs Ingram-Moore that an appearance at an awards ceremony for which she was paid £18,000 was undertaken in a personal capacity. The commission said there was no evidence to support this. While she received £18,000, just £2,000, separate from that sum, was donated to the charity.

• Use of the foundation’s name in an initial planning application for a spa pool block at their home, something the couple said had been an error while they were both “busy undertaking ‘global media work”. The block was demolished earlier this year, after the family lost an appeal against Central Bedfordshire Council’s order for it to be torn down.

The Charity Commission opened a case into the foundation in March 2021, escalating it to become a statutory inquiry in June 2022, amid concerns about the charity’s management and independence from Sir Tom’s family.

In July, the Ingram-Moores released a statement saying they had been banned from being charity trustees.

The orders against both – meaning Mrs Ingram-Moore cannot be a trustee or hold a senior management role in any charity in England and Wales for 10 years, nor Mr Ingram-Moore for eight years – were issued in May and came into effect on 25 June.

The watchdog’s chief executive said its report had found “repeated failures of governance and integrity”, and that its inquiry had been fair, balanced and independent.

David Holdsworth, commission chief executive, said the foundation set up in Sir Tom’s name “has not lived up to that legacy of others before self, which is central to charity”.

He added: “The public, and the law, rightly expect those involved in charities to make an unambiguous distinction between their personal interests and those of the charity and the beneficiaries they are there to serve.

“This did not happen in the case of The Captain Tom Foundation. We found repeated instances of a blurring of boundaries between private and charitable interests, with Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore receiving significant personal benefit. Together the failings amount to misconduct and/or mismanagement.”

The commission has not called on the foundation to close, but a lawyer for the family has previously indicated the charity might shut down.

Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore described the Charity Commission inquiry as “unjust and excessive”.

In a statement, they said: “True accountability demands transparency, not selective storytelling.

“We remain dedicated to upholding Captain Sir Tom’s legacy and want the public to know, that there has never been any misappropriation of funds or unauthorised payments from the charity’s bank account, by any member of our family.”