A watchdog probe into "concerns" over a charity set up in Captain Tom's memory is unresolved - a year on. The Charity Commission said this week the statutory inquiry, announced in June 2022, is "ongoing".
It had launched an investigation into The Captain Tom Foundation's arrangements with a business linked to Captain Tom's daughter and her husband. The ex-Army officer became a Covid hero after raising £38.9m for the NHS by walking around his garden.
He was knighted for his efforts and given a Pride of Britain award prior to his death in 2021, aged 100. The Charity Commission said on June 30, 2022 that a statutory inquiry had been launched two weeks earlier, on June 16.
And a spokesman said this week: "Our inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation is ongoing. We don’t offer updates or comment on ongoing inquiries, to avoid prejudicing their outcome, nor can we speculate on timescales.
"It is our usual process to publish a report on conclusion of an inquiry to detail our findings and conclusions, and any action taken."
The Charity Commission said last year the probe was launched over "newly identified concerns about arrangements between the charity and a company linked to the Ingram-Moore family".
Captain Tom's daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and her husband Colin set up Club Nook Ltd. The Charity Commission added in 2022: "The Commission is concerned that a failure to consider intellectual property and trade mark issues when the charity was established provided Club Nook Limited, a private company controlled by Hannah Ingram-Moore and Colin Ingram-Moore, the opportunity to trade mark variations of the name ‘Captain Tom’ without objection from the charity.
"This may have generated significant profit for the company."
Charity Commission CEO Helen Stephenson said at the time: "We consider it in the public interest to examine them through a formal investigation, which gives us access to the full range of our protective and enforcement powers."
The Captain Tom Foundation was approached for comment.
It said previously it would "of course work closely with the commission in its inquiry."
