The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust

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London trust funding a Jerusalem yeshiva, under Charity Commission statutory inquiry since July 2023

The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust

Type Trust
Founded 1991-06-05 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 1003102
Headquarters 18 Woodlands Close, London, NW11 9QP
Area served Israel


The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust was registered on 5 June 1991; Israel is its only register area.[1] Its latest accounts on the register, for the year to 31 March 2023 and examined by Malcolm Venitt of Venitt and Greaves, give its principal address as 18 Darenth Road, London N16 6EJ, and its trustees as Rabbi Y C Baddiel, C Lopian and A Hercz (deceased 14 March 2023). It supports the "Gevurath Ari Torah Academy" in "North Jerusalem, Israel", founded in 1984 in memory of Rav Chaim Leib Shmulevitz, and states that it maintains "the academy's yearly budget in its entirety". Income was £597,025 and grants £1,177,817 (PDF p.3–5, 8).[2]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "TO ADVANCE EDUCATION IN AND THE RELIGION OF THE ORTHODOX JEWISH FAITH."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "Raising money for the Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust in Israel"[1]

Register classifications: Education/training, Religious Activities.[1]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel.[1]

Trustees

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]

Trustees of The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Rabbi Yaacov Chanoch Baddiel not recorded The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust (299687)
Chaim Lopian not recorded The Friends of Beis-eliyohu Trust (264365); The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust (299687)

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2021-01-14 Chaim Lopian – also trustee of The Friends of Beis-eliyohu Trust, The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust; Alfred Hercz – also trustee of The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust; Rabbi Yaacov Chanoch Baddiel – also trustee of The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust [3]

The accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 list A Hercz as a trustee "deceased 14.3.23" (PDF p.5).[2]

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2021-03-31 £676,193 £679,170
2022-03-31 £611,706 £568,229
2023-03-31 £597,025 £1,181,618

Source: register annual-return history.[1]

Archived accounts

Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:

  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2014[4]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2015[5]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2016[6]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2017[7]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2018[8]

Funding in Israel

  • FY2023: grants of £1,177,817, all to The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy, "a registered Israeli charity" (PDF p.5, 8).[2]

Israeli partners

Gevurath Ari Torah Academy, "North Jerusalem".[2]

Activity beyond the Green Line and support for the IDF

Findings are graded by confidence. "Partner" findings concern the Israeli recipient organisation, not proven use of UK funds.

Evidence of activity beyond the 1949 armistice line
Finding Confidence
The academy is described only as in "North Jerusalem"; the neighbourhood is not stated.[2] Not established – Jerusalem, district not stated

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[2]

Controversies and regulatory action

  • Statutory inquiry (July 2023). The Charity Commission opened inquiries into this charity and The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust on 17 July 2023 under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011. It said the charities, which share trustees, "raise funds for faith institutes in Israel"; that "one trustee, who lives in Israel, is in possession of the charities' cheque books containing a number of blank cheques pre-signed by the trustees who live in the UK"; that they "operate heavily in cash" and "do not maintain adequate records"; and that the trustees "could not provide sufficient evidence that they were monitoring or verifying the end use of the charities' funds overseas". It made an order under section 76(3)(f) prohibiting transactions including "withdrawing charitable funds in cash and pre-signing cheques". An inquiry is not itself a finding of wrongdoing.[9] The register still shows the inquiry as open and the charity's reporting as "overdue by 622 days".[10] Trustees Baddiel and Lopian are both recorded on the register as trustees of the Telz trust (299687).[1]
  • Addresses. The register gives the charity's contact address as 18 Woodlands Close, London NW11 9QP, the same postcode as the Telz trust's register address; the accounts give 18 Darenth Road, London N16 6EJ.[1][2]
  • Accounts disclosure. The FY2023 report states that "the charity is currently undegoing [sic] investigations both from the Charity Commission and HMRC" (PDF p.5).[2]
  • Signature by a deceased trustee. The statement of financial position is "signed on its behalf by: A Hercz - Trustee" with approval dated 31 January 2024, although the same accounts record that Hercz died on 14 March 2023 (PDF p.5, 9).[2]
  • Inconsistent figures. The report gives a deficit of £114,786 and negative reserves of £351,786, while the statement of financial activities shows net expenditure of £109,593 and funds of –£346,593. £475,000 appears as "Net gains on investments" in the SoFA but as "Sale of investment property" and an adjustment for "Losses on investments" in the cash-flow statement, with no investment property on the prior-year balance sheet. Grants of £1,177,817 were nearly double donations of £597,025 (PDF p.5, 8–11).[2]
  • Overdue filings. The FY2023 return was received on 22 April 2024, after its due date of 31 January 2024; the register extract shows the charity's status as "Submission Double Default".[1] It is not among the charities named in the three cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements of 2025.[11][12][13]

Other registers and records

Scotland and Northern Ireland

No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (full register download of 14 October 2026 searched by name).[14] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[15]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name returned no notices.[16]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[17]

Sanctions screening

The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees and officers named in the accounts read for this profile and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found. Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (UK sanctions ID RUS1127) does not appear among this charity's trustees or officers.[18]

Land and property

The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[19]

Parliament

Hansard searches for 'Gevurath Ari', 'Gevurath Ari Torah Academy' returned 0 contributions in total.[20]

Web archive

The UK Government Web Archive holds 3 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile (cited in the sections above). The 2021 archived full print showed the status "Charity reporting is up to date" and "Other regulators: No information available".[3]

See also

External links

  • No current official website.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity, charity_trustee, charity_annual_return_history, charity_area_of_operation, charity_classification), extract dated 14 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Charity Commission, The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (1003102): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Register entry 1003102, full print (capture of 20210114) UK Government Web Archive.
  4. ↑ The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust accounts, year ended 2014-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
  5. ↑ The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust accounts, year ended 2015-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
  6. ↑ The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust accounts, year ended 2016-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
  7. ↑ The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust accounts, year ended 2017-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
  8. ↑ The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust accounts, year ended 2018-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
  9. ↑ Charity Commission, Charities investigated over poor financial management GOV.UK, 25 July 2023 (fetched 14 October 2026).
  10. ↑ Charity Commission, The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (1003102): charity overview Register of Charities, viewed 14 October 2026 ("Regulatory alert – Charity reporting is overdue by 622 days"; "Regulatory alerts – The Charity Commission has opened an inquiry into the charity", linking to the July 2023 announcement).
  11. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  12. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025 (re-fetched 14 October 2026).
  13. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, CharityExport-14-Oct-2026.csv, downloaded 14 October 2026; keyword search of charity names for the batch-6 charities found no matching Scottish registration.
  15. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-6 charity name returned zero results).
  16. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Gevurath Ari' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
  17. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1003102 360Giving, queried 14 October 2026.
  18. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-6 screening covered 429 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages and archived full-print register pages (UK Government Web Archive), Companies House officers of the charitable companies, and trustees, officers and related persons named in the accounts read for this batch (including archived accounts); matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually (all candidate hits were surname-only coincidences or generic word overlaps); lists downloaded October 2026.
  19. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access on 14 October 2026; no titles were looked up or purchased. Candidate title numbers below come from the free CCOD / OCOD datasets (October 2026 release), not from paid title registers.
  20. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Gevurath Ari' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
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