Charity fronted by David Miliband lost funding due to 37 allegations of fraud, sex abuse and bribery — but public were never told
The ex-Labour minister, who joined the charity in 2013, is named in a leaked report showing the government halted its contributions and recovered £5.4m of taxpayer money
A CHARITY fronted by David Miliband hushed up 37 sex abuse, fraud and bribery allegations.
Ministers were so concerned about millions in taxpayer cash sent to the International Rescue Committee they froze funding.
The IRC, whose president is the ex-Labour foreign secretary, sent a team to probe claims of wrongdoing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A leaked report shows the Department for International Development cut off funding to the charity “based on direct reporting of sexual harassment and fraud”.
A DFID Spokesman said: “DFID became aware of serious allegations relating to this programme in August 2016.
"The Department acted swiftly to ensure the reported misconduct was fully and comprehensively addressed by the IRC and relevant
authorities.”
Mr Miliband, who joined IRC in New York after he quit politics in 2013, is mentioned by name in the report.
A total of £5.4million of taxpayer cash was eventually released but the public was never told what happened.
One of the projects hit was the Girls Education Program, to “help up to a million of the world’s poorest girls improve their lives through education”.
Its cash was frozen amid claims of “fraud, bribery and sexual misconduct” among groups awarded funds.
When the IRC’s ethics and compliance unit arrived in Africa to investigate 24 cases they also opened a further 13.
A source said: “The Government was aware of this, they withheld money because of the allegations so they certainly knew about some of them.
“It’s completely wrong the charity has tried to cover it up to the public. I have seen the Oxfam story but there are still others trying to hide it.”
Senior Oxfam staff have quit over revelations that aid workers in Haiti used prostitutes.
Some of the investigations are understood to still be ongoing.
An IRC spokeswoman said: “The IRC followed good practice, reporting allegations to donors, conducting investigations and providing reports to donors and local authorities.”
A Charity Commission spokesperson told The Sun: “The Charity Commission has not seen a copy of an International Rescue Committee report from January 2017 regarding allegations about sexual harassment, fraud or bribery in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
";We will be contacting the International Rescue Committee UK to seek further clarification on this as a matter of urgency.”
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