Firm banned from raising funds

Firm banned from raising funds

Global Virtue, a private firm, has been banned from raising funds for charity.

The Office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) in announcing this on Thursday said it had received complaints about teenagers representing the company soliciting donations and selling vouchers in public, purportedly for charity.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesman for the COC's Office said it was first made aware of these activities late last year "and has been monitoring the matter since". It then started investigations after receiving more feedback in the first quarter of this year.

The company claimed that part of the sale proceeds goes to non-profit and charitable organisations as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

But investigations by the COC showed the firm had "no proper control over the vouchers or sale proceeds and no proper accounting records were maintained".

The COC concluded that the fund-raising appeals were "improperly administered" by its directors, Mr Muhammad Zuhairi Abdullah and Ms Mohammad Rudi Muhammad Suffian, and its adviser, Mr Jeffri Pawel.

Mr Pawel is also in charge of the firm's fund-raising appeals.

The Straits Times understands that it raised funds for the disabled, students, the unemployed, low-income families, single parents and ex-convicts.

It is not clear what business the firm, which has a paid up capital of $100,000, does.

Global Virtue said on its Facebook page that it was a "business consulting/marketing communications firm", while the signboard at its Orchard Towers office and a check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority suggest it was a travel agency.

When The Straits Times visited the office on Thursday afternoon, it was closed. Global Virtue's website was down, and the hotline listed on its Facebook page was not in use. The firm started out as a sole proprietorship in 2011, but was reformed into an "exempt private company" - a private company with up to 20 shareholders - in July last year.

Earlier this week, on Monday, the COC also ordered Project Awareness, a social initiative group working with the needy, to stop fund-raising. But it said the group could resume when it meets certain conditions regarding how it managed donations.

The COC said members of the public, when approached for donations in public areas, should verify if the fund-raiser has a valid licence. This can be done by sending an SMS query to 79777 using the format "FR \ \".

goyshiyi@sph.com.sg


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