View source for Achiezer

{{short description|Registered charity in England and Wales}}
{{Infobox organization
| name            = Achiezer
| type            = Unincorporated charitable trust (removed)
| registration_id = 234038
| founded         = Declaration of Trust 15 February 1964; registered 8 April 1964
| dissolved       = Removed from the register 7 April 2022 (ceased to exist)
| location        = England and Wales
| key_people      = [[Sidney Chontow]]; [[David Chontow]]; [[Michael Chontow]]
}}

'''Achiezer''' (charity number 234038) was an unincorporated English charity governed by a declaration of trust dated 15 February 1964 and registered on 8 April 1964. Its published activity was grants to poor persons and charitable institutions within the community. Objects covered relief of aged, impotent and poor persons (including interest-free loans repayable by instalments) and other purposes beneficial to the community and charitable. It operated throughout England and Wales. The Charity Commission removed it from the register on 7 April 2022 as having ceased to exist.<ref name="CCRemoved">[[Charity Commission]], [https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/234038/full-print ACHIEZER - 234038] ''Register of Charities'' (removed), accessed 15 September 2026.</ref><ref name="InquiryHTML">[[Charity Commission]], [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charity-inquiry-achiezer/charity-inquiry-achiezer Charity Inquiry: Achiezer] ''GOV.UK'', 19 August 2022 (withdrawn from the live site 22 August 2024; report archived as over two years old).</ref>

It is a separate legal body from the still-registered [[Achiezer Va'Achisomoch Trust]] (271610) of 38 Heathland Road, London N16, and from [[Achiezer Association Ltd]] (255031), which shared trustees with Achiezer 234038.

== Sister charity ==

[[Achiezer Association Ltd]] (255031) had the same trustees and similar objects (relief of poverty, assistance of the elderly, advancement of education and religion). A statutory inquiry into both bodies was opened on 23 June 2015 and announced on 6 August 2015. The inquiry into Achiezer 234038 later closed; the class inquiry into the Association was described in 2015 as ongoing at the point the joint investigation was announced.<ref name="GOV2015">[[Charity Commission]], [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-charity-investigation-achiezer-association-ltd-and-achiezer New charity investigation: Achiezer Association Ltd and Achiezer] ''GOV.UK'', 6 August 2015.</ref>

== People ==

=== Trustees ===

The only trustees were three brothers. [[Michael Chontow]] died before the 2015 inquiry opened. [[David Chontow]] died in September 2020. [[Sidney Chontow]] and David Chontow were removed as trustees of Achiezer Association Ltd on 25 August 2020 under section 79(4) of the Charities Act and thereby disqualified from acting as charity trustees.<ref name="ThirdSector2022">[[Third Sector]], [https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/trio-brothers-abused-position-trustees-poverty-charity-regulator-finds/governance/article/1796275 Trio of brothers ‘abused their position’ as trustees of poverty charity, regulator finds].</ref><ref name="GOV2022PR">[[Charity Commission]], [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-removes-trustees-and-charity-is-wound-up-after-trustee-attempted-to-avoid-business-rates Regulator removes trustees and charity is wound up after trustee attempted to avoid business rates] ''GOV.UK'', 19 August 2022.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Role !! Notes
|-
| [[Sidney Chontow]] || Trustee || Removed/disqualified August 2020; partner in Dasim Partners
|-
| [[David Chontow]] || Trustee || Removed/disqualified August 2020; died September 2020; partner in Dasim Partners
|-
| [[Michael Chontow]] || Trustee || Died before the June 2015 inquiry opened
|}

There were no independent trustees.<ref name="InquiryHTML" />

===Historic trustees===
Trustees as listed in archived snapshots of the Charity Commission register (first and last snapshot in which each name appears; not a record of actual appointment or resignation dates).
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! First seen !! Last seen !! Snapshots listing name
|-
| [[David Chontow]] || 25 February 2009 || 2 January 2019 || 10 <ref name="ARC234038_1">UK Government Web Archive, [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20090225162548/http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ShowCharity/RegisterOfCharities/ContactAndTrustees.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=234038&SubsidiaryNumber=0 Achiezer – register entry (25 February 2009)], archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register dated 25 February 2009, accessed 14 October 2026.</ref><ref name="ARC234038_2">UK Government Web Archive, [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20190102232640/http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=234038&subid=0 Achiezer – register entry (2 January 2019)], archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register dated 2 January 2019, accessed 14 October 2026.</ref>
|-
| [[Michael Meyer Chontow]] || 25 February 2009 || 6 January 2015 || 7 <ref name="ARC234038_1" /><ref name="ARC234038_3">UK Government Web Archive, [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20150106155548/http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/ContactAndTrustees.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=234038&SubsidiaryNumber=0 Achiezer – register entry (6 January 2015)], archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register dated 6 January 2015, accessed 14 October 2026.</ref>
|-
| [[Sidney Shalom Chontow]] || 25 February 2009 || 2 January 2019 || 10 <ref name="ARC234038_1" /><ref name="ARC234038_2" />
|}

== Inquiry and findings ==

Achiezer was first drawn into a Commission “double defaulters” class inquiry after it failed to file accounts for years including 2010–12 (accounts late for five consecutive years 2010–14).<ref name="GOV2015" /><ref name="InquiryHTML" /> Continuing default, and concerns about trading subsidiaries and a company associated with the trustees, led to a statutory inquiry into both Achiezer and Achiezer Association Ltd, opened 23 June 2015.<ref name="GOV2015" />

On 30 October 2018 the Commission appointed [[Geoffrey Carton-Kelly]] and [[Jason Baker]] of FRP Advisory LLP as joint interim managers of both charities under section 76(3)(g) of the Charities Act 2011, to the exclusion of the then trustees.<ref name="GOVIM">[[Charity Commission]], [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/interim-managers-appointed-to-achiezer-association-limited-and-achiezer Interim Managers appointed to Achiezer Association Limited and Achiezer] ''GOV.UK'', 7 November 2018 (withdrawn 19 August 2022 when the Achiezer inquiry closed).</ref>

The published inquiry report (19 August 2022) concluded there was serious misconduct and/or mismanagement, including:

* failure to file accounts and returns on time over several years;
* payments totalling £129,800 (2014–16) to [[Dasim Partners]], a property development firm in which Sidney and David Chontow were partners, with no independent trustees and an unclear basis for the payments;
* failure to distinguish the charity from connected entities or to manage conflicts of interest;
* personal benefit to Sidney Chontow, including use of charity funds in connection with business rates on a property owned by [[Gebedee Limited]] (an example payment of £1,556.40 on 26 May 2016 to a local council).<ref name="InquiryHTML" /><ref name="GOV2022PR" />

Sidney Chontow later paid outstanding business rates to Bury Council. Remaining funds of more than £400,000 were distributed to charities with similar aims. Register notes of 7 April 2022 record transfers including to [[The Association of Jewish Refugees]] (1149882) and the [[Holocaust Educational Trust]] (1092892). The charity was then wound up and removed.<ref name="CCRemoved" /><ref name="GOV2022PR" />

The 2022 inquiry page was withdrawn from the live GOV.UK site on 22 August 2024 under the Commission’s two-year archive policy.<ref name="InquiryHTML" />

== Finances (illustrative filed years) ==

Third Sector reported Achiezer income of £113,145 and spending of £34,302 in the year to 5 April 2016. The Association’s income had been about £1.6 million (2013/14) and about £1.1 million the following year, falling to £76 income and £39,471 spending in the year to 30 September 2016 in the figures then on file.<ref name="TS2018">[[Third Sector]], [https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-appoints-interim-managers-related-poverty-charities/governance/article/1498312 Regulator appoints interim managers to related poverty charities], 7 November 2018.</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Achiezer Association Ltd]]
* [[Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator]]
* [[Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques]]
* [[Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques]]
* [[British Jewish or Zionist charities investigated by the Charity Commission, 2005-2023]]
* [[British Jewish charities investigated by the Charity Commission]]

== Notes ==

<references />

[[Category:Orthodox Jewish organisations]]
[[Category:Charity Commission investigation]]

==Notes==
[[category:Charity Commission investigation]]
[[Category:Charities]]
[[Category:Jewish charities in the United Kingdom]]