Carnival faces fraud probe over 'nepotism'

The Notting Hill Carnival Trust is facing a Charity Commission investigation over allegations that its chief executive acted " fraudulently" by employing relatives in key positions.

A group of former trustees is to ask the commission to probe the way the charity is run after they were ousted from the board last week following a bitter internal feud.

Former trust vice chairman Ansel Wong, 55, claims chief executive Claire Holder broke charity law by employing her brother Danny and sister Pat without consulting the board.

He also says the charity, which receives around £400,000 in grants a year, should get no more public cash until it has had a full investigation from its various funding bodies, which include the Greater London Assembly, Kensington and Chelsea council, and the Arts Council.

Mr Wong, a former chairman of the London Health Commission and one of the trust's longest-serving members, said: "We were accused of wanting to wash our dirty linen in public, by raising concerns that Ms Holder was breaching charity commission law by appointing members of her family without consultation of the board.

"We intend to approach the Charity Commission in the next few days and ask them to investigate the process by which decisions are taken, which we contend is fraudulent. The various funding agencies should also make inquiries as there is a lot of public money involved."

Danny Holder is paid around £40,000 a year as an IT consultant, events coordinator and route marshall organiser, roles he has carried out for several years. His sister Pat received part of an £18,000 trust allocation for carrying out catering this year.

Mr Wong claims that a row broke out when he queried the "lack of transparency" in the awarding of the contracts this year, amid growing concerns that the stewarding operation would not be ready on time.

Ms Holder, he alleges, also kept him and other trustees "out the loop" over most other aspects of the carnival organisation, including negotiations with the GLA. "Our main concerns was the way the board couldn't carry out its scrutiny functions in relation to the operation of carnival," he said. "We were not taking decisions or being consulted on anything."

He says he and fellow trustee Debbie Gardner were then ousted by a " kangaroo court" hearing for bringing the carnival into "disrepute".

"We were given no details of the allegations or an opportunity to defend ourselves," he said. "We are disappointed this has happened, and we want to make sure that the issues are raised properly."

New board members are now in place, but the affair will do little to brighten prospects for next year's carnival, which is already embroiled in controversy over what route it should take.

A trust spokeswoman said: "Mr Wong is clutching at straws. The appointments of both Pat and Danny are entirely regular as is proved by the board minutes. It is the behaviour of former board members that should be scrutinised by the Charity Commission, and we would have no problem with them making any inquiries."