Within weeks of the start of Capt Tom’s walk, the Ingram-Moores set up both the Captain Tom Foundation to support causes for the elderly, and Club Nook, a private company that acquired ownership of the Captain Tom brand.
The Charity Commission said this ability to “generate significant profit for the company… without objection from the charity” was concerning.
It is looking into “whether the charity has suffered any financial losses through unauthorised private benefit to the current or previous trustees”.
One focus of the inquiry will be the family’s decision to keep the profits, worth around £800,000, of Capt Tom’s three books, despite publicised claims they would be used to support the foundation.
Notably, in the prologue to his autobiography, Tomorrow will be a Good Day, Capt Tom wrote that “with the offer to write this memoir I have also been given the chance to raise even more money” for the foundation.
Ms Ingram-Moore said her father had always intended that “the money (from his books) would to go to Club Nook”.
There is no suggestion that she acted illegally by keeping the money rather than donating it to her late father’s charity.
Ms Ingram-Moore stepped down as a trustee of the charity in March 2021 to become its interim CEO on a salary of £85,000, but her husband, Colin continues in the role.
They have not responded to any of the ’s requests for comment.
