The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into a major foundation supporting Jewish causes, the Genesis Philanthropy Group, after three of its four founding trustees were sanctioned earlier in the week in the latest government crackdown on Russian oligarchs.
The regulator has frozen the bank account of the group after Petr Aven, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, who have an estimated wealth of £24 billion between them, were among those named on the latest government list.
The three men have resigned as trustees of the group, which cannot move or access funds without the commission’s permission.
Individuals subject to financial sanctions cannot discharge their duties as trustees, according to the charity regulator.
The commission said the inquiry would examine whether the charity “can continue to operate and is viable, and whether the trustees have discharged their legal duties and responsibilities in their management and administration of the charity”.
GPG was registered as a UK charity in 2018. It also has an Israeli non-profit arm.
According to its latest UK accounts, for the year ending June 2020, it spent over £1 million helping Jewish organisations across the world with a grant of over £250,000 to JW3. Its UK beneficiaries include PJ Library and the Moishe House among others.
A message sent out to supporters by GPG's chairman Gennady Gazin and chief executive Marina Yudborovsky said that the three men had resigned from its board "in order to assure the ability of GPG to stay true to its mission and build on the foundation we have created over the past 15 years".
They said, "Like you, all of us at GPG are horrified by the war in Ukraine and dismayed by the needless loss of life and destruction the continued fighting is inflicting on the region."
The group had recently announced a round of grants to support humanitarian needs in Ukraine and had the necessary financial resources to ensure that the resignation of the three men would not affect commitments made.
According to the Foreign Office, Mr Fridman, the founder of Alfa Bank and a shareholder in investment company LetterOne, has an estimated net worth of £11.9 billion.
Mr Aven, who was president of Alfa Bank and co-founder of LetterOne, is worth £4 billion, while Mr Khan was described as a business parter of the other two in both enterprises with a net worth of £7.8 billion.
The GPG’s accounts record that it received more than £840,000 during that year from LetterOne.
Earlier this month Lord Davies, chairman of LetterOne, was quoted in The Guardian as saying that Mr Aven and Mr Fridman had “ceased to have any involvement” in the company two weeks ago, after they were sanctioned by the EU.
In a statement reported by Reuters, the two men said they would “contest the spurious and unfounded basis” for the imposition of the EU measures.
Mr Fridman called the situation in Ukraine a tragedy and said “the war should be stopped”.
The latest batch of individuals targeted for UK sanctions also included Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of Moscow’s Jewish Museum and Centre for Tolerance.
He is owner of the energy and aluminium conglomerate, the Renova Group, and estimated by the Foreign Office to be worth £6.8 billion.
“We are going further and faster than ever in hitting those closest to Putin,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
GPG has been approached for comment.
