The Charity Commission has been investigating the controversial SPAC Nation church since April 2018, it was revealed today. 

According to the commission, they issued the trustees with an action plan for improvement in June. However, compliance officers have been engaging with the Church since as far back as April 2018.

A spokesperson for the Charity Commission described the allegations recently raised in a number of reports by the Huffington Post of fraud and safeguarding abuses as “a range of serious and troubling concerns,” and said that the Commission already had a regulatory compliance case open when the allegations were published. 

The spokesperson continued: “Protecting people and safeguarding should be a governance priority for all charities, not just those working with children or groups traditionally considered at risk. We are following up on the new concerns raised with the trustees and are considering our next regulatory steps.” 

The Metropolitan Police are also investigating a number of complaints made against the church including “potential fraud and other allegations.” 

The commission do not investigate criminal offences themselves, but criminality and the response of the charity to the offences are of interest to them.

Issue which the Commission will be investigating themselves are likely to include safeguarding issues and allegations that the church engaged in party political campaigning in the Fairfield by-election. Charities are not permitted to campaign on behalf of parties. 

At the weekend, police were forced to intervene in an angry clash between a group of SPAC Nation members and anti-SPAC Nation protestors who were holding a rally. 

SPAC Nation did not respond to requests for comment.