Troubleshooters sent into wildlife charity linked to Carrie Johnson

Simon Walters, The Independent

Troubleshooters have been sent in to investigate a charity linked to Boris Johnson’s wife following claims that its funds were used improperly by the multimillionaire socialite who runs it. The Charity Commission has appointed a team of high-powered legal experts to act as interim managers and take over key decision-making at the Aspinall Foundation, run by former casino owner Damian Aspinall. According to the watchdog’s code of conduct, interim managers are imposed on a charity when it believes there has been “mismanagement and/or misconduct”. It defines misconduct as any “criminal, unlawful or improper” act.

The Aspinall Foundation is a global conservation group that releases zoo animals back into the wild, working with its sister charity the Howletts Wild Animal Trust, which runs two wildlife parks in Kent. Both charities have been under the Charity Commission’s spotlight for five years, with a statutory inquiry launched in 2021. Its latest decision to send troubleshooters into the Aspinall Foundation over “fresh issues of concern” marks a major tightening of the screw. Carrie Johnson was recruited by the Aspinall Foundation in January 2021 to a senior communications role on an estimated “high five-figure salary” when her partner Johnson, whom she married in May that year, was prime minister.

Johnson has been one of the charity’s highest-profile cheerleaders. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by either of the Johnsons. The allegations against the Aspinall Foundation include allowing its chair, Aspinall, to rent its headquarters, Howletts House — a neo-Palladian, 30-bedroom mansion in Kent, set in a 90-acre estate — for £2,500 a month, equivalent to the cost of renting a house in nearby Canterbury. The rent was increased to £10,000 a month after a revaluation. Other allegations include paying £150,000 to Aspinall’s wife, Victoria, for “interior design”, as well as making loans to Aspinall. In 2019, he reportedly owed the foundation £113,000.

Allegations against the Howletts Wild Animal Trust include paying Aspinall’s step mother Lady Sarah Aspinall a £30,000-a-year pension for “gardening services”. In a statement to The Independent, the Charity Commission said: “Our inquiry into the Aspinall Foundation is ongoing. Towards the end of last year, fresh issues of concern were identified requiring us to embark on a further phase of investigation, and our investigators are working hard to pursue these at pace. “The commission has now appointed interim managers to the Aspinall Foundation, who will work alongside the existing trustees on specific areas in line with the charity’s governing document.”

The Charity Commission only imposes interim managers on a charity “if it is satisfied that there has been misconduct and/or mismanagement” and it is considered “necessary to protect the charity’s property”. Misconduct “includes any act that the person committing it knew — or ought to have known — was criminal, unlawful or improper”.

Mismanagement is defined as “any act that may result in charitable resources being misused — or the people who benefit from the charity being put at risk”. The Charity Commission troubleshooters have been tasked with making any decisions that cannot be made by the trustees because of “a conflict of interest”, and with “reviewing the make-up of the board of trustees”.

Crucially, they have also been ordered to find out whether any of the trustees — or their family members — “received a direct or indirect benefit from the charity”. Aspinall’s daughter Tansy is a trustee of both the Aspinall Foundation and Howletts Wild Animal Trust.

Multimillionaire and Conservative peer Zac Goldsmith, a former minister and a close friend of Aspinall and both the Johnsons, was an Aspinall trustee until August 2019. Lord Goldsmith’s brother Ben, a Tory donor who was given an advisory post in Johnson’s government, was also an Aspinall Foundation trustee. Both left before the Charity Commission launched any inquiries.

A spokesperson for the Aspinall Foundation said: “We welcome the inquiry by the Charity Commission and will continue to work with them transparently, but until that has concluded we are unable to comment further to press.” A spokesperson for the Howletts Wild Animal Trust said: “With the Charity Commission’s inquiry ongoing, we are unable to comment further.” Carrie Johnson could not be contacted. The Aspinall Foundation declined to say whether she is still an employee.