Probe into Captain Tom's charity with daughter 'lined up for £100k-a-year CEO role'

The Charity Commission has opened a probe into a foundation set up in honour of NHS hero Captain Sir Tom Moore.

He raised nearly £39million during the pandemic by walking 100 lengths of his garden before he died in February last year after contracting Covid aged 100.

The Captain Tom Foundation was set up by his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin.

The Charity Commission, which had begun a compliance case, has opened a ­statutory inquiry.

It says it has identified concerns about management and ­independence from Sir Tom’s family.

The probe centres on a company linked to the Ingram-Moores.

Captain Tom was awarded with the insignia of Knight Bachelor at Windsor Castle (Getty Images)

The money raised by Captain Sir Tom was donated to a separate charity before the Foundation was formed and is not part of the investigation.

The commission said it is concerned about a “failure to consider intellectual property and trademark issues” when the charity was set up.

That allegedly gave a firm called Club Nook Ltd the opportunity to trademark ­variations of the name Captain Tom without objection and generate a "significant profit".

The inquiry is analysing if trustees have been responsible for mismanagement.

Annual accounts for the charity, formed in May 2020, show it incurred £240,000 costs and gave away £160,000.

Captain Tom Moore with his daughter Hannah (PA)

Last July, the regulator refused permission for the Foundation to employ Ingram-Moore as chief executive on a salary of £100,000 a year, saying it was not justifiable.

However, the following month it allowed her to be appointed for a wage of £85,000 for a maximum of nine months while
they looked for a new CEO, who has since been recruited.

Helen Stephenson, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “Captain Sir Tom Moore inspired the nation. It is vital public trust in charity is protected.”

Stephen Jones, chair of the board of trustees of the foundation, said: “We will work closely with the Commission.”

CEO Jack Gilbert said: “My appointment marks the start of an important period of transformation.”

Captain Tom Moore doing a lap of his garden in April 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

A statement from the Ingram-Moores said: “Club Nook Ltd made its application for trademark prior to the formation of the foundation. Neither Hannah nor Colin were trustee directors upon its formation.”

Money raised for the NHS, which was donated to NHS Charities Together, is not part of the scope of the inquiry.

Captain Sir Tom's drew condolences from the Queen, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Joe Biden's White House.