A central London rabbi who was honoured by Queen Elizabeth will return £2.35m after a police probe found charity money in his personal bank accounts.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Barry Marcus MBE was found to be holding the six-figure sum in his personal bank accounts, with a probe proving the money had not been distributed for the charitable purposes they were intended for.
Marcus, 74, was formerly the rabbi at Central London synagogue in Great Portland Street from 1995 to 2018, and was awarded an MBE in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list for his work on Holocaust Education.
The funds were received from two Jewish charities; Dalaid, which aims to advance Jewish education, and The Schwarzschild Foundation, which tackles poverty for women and girls in the orthodox Jewish faith.
Both charities said that they were unaware that the funds had not been distributed.
Investigators began a probe in October 2022, with Marcus receiving over £1m between January and September of that year.
The bulk came from the charities before being transferred to other UK accounts and accounts overseas.
Initial enquiries could not establish a legitimate explanation for the substantial payments, said the NCA.
Between November 2022 and March 2023, the NCA applied for four Account Freezing Orders over funds totalling £1,183,072 that were held in Marcus’ accounts.
Despite maintaining that he had distributed a substantial amount of money in accordance with the charity’s intentions, the force said Marcus was unable to provide satisfactory evidence for this.
On 31 January this year, he agreed to formally transfer over £2m to the charities.
On March 12, Westminster Magistrates’ Court varied the four Account Freezing Orders to allow the frozen funds to be returned to the two charities.
In June 2023, the Charity Commission opened inquiries into both charities over concerns with their governance, which are ongoing.
The NCA’s Tim Quarrelle said: “This is a fantastic result that will see millions of pounds returned to the two charities they had been deprived from.
“It follows a challenging and complex NCA investigation that ran over 18 months, showing the commitment of our officers to pursue every line of inquiry to reach the best possible outcome.
“We are particularly grateful to our colleagues at the Charity Commission who are in parallel investigating issues relating to these charities.”
