The independent report into the ‘cash for honours’ scandal that brought down the Prince of Wales’s closest ally has been completed and its findings will be shared with trustees of the Prince’s Foundation as early as this week, The Mail on Sunday understands.
Forensic accountants were brought in after the MoS revealed that the Foundation’s chief executive Michael Fawcett had written a letter to Saudi tycoon Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz in which he offered help to obtain a knighthood and British Citizenship in exchange for ‘generous’ donations. After receiving a letter from Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz in which he offered help to obtain a knighthood and British Citizenship, Mr Fawcett resigned.
A statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission into transactions with Mahfouz Foundation led to a further crisis for the charity.
Michael Fawcett (pictured), had written Mahfouz Marei Mubarak Bin Mahfouz a letter in which he suggested that he help him to get a British citizenship and a knighthood.
A source said: ‘It is thought the findings point towards [the Mahfouz Foundation], which is what has sparked the new investigation by the Charities Commission.’
The Charity Commission’s investigation is thought to centre around a £500,000 donation made by Russian financier Dmitry Leus to the Prince’s Foundation.
The Prince wrote to Mr Leus to say he was ‘incredibly grateful’ for the gift, but the Foundation ethics committee rejected the money over a money-laundering conviction against the businessman, which was later overturned.
The Charity Commission’s investigation is thought to centre around a £500,000 donation made by Russian financier Dmitry Leus to the Prince’s Foundation
The MoS revealed earlier this year that £300,000 of the donation was sent to the Mahfouz Foundation instead, with the remaining £200,0000 held by society fixer Michael Wynne-Parker, a Mahfouz Foundation trustee.
Mr Leus said he had never heard of the Mahfouz Foundation and was ‘deeply shocked at what appears to have happened to a charitable donation given in good faith’.
The Prince’s Foundation declined to comment.