Prince Charles health charity aide arrested over £300,000 fraud inquiry

By Paul Bentley for the Daily Mail
Updated: 21:51 EST, 26 April 2010

Prince Charles

Irregularities: A former aide to Prince Charles has been arrested on suspicion of money-laundering at his Foundation for Integrated Health

A former aide to the Prince of Wales was arrested yesterday on suspicion of fraud and money-laundering at Charles's health charity.

The senior official was taken into custody following an inquiry into £300,000 found unaccounted for in the books of the Foundation for Integrated Health.

Prince Charles is president of the charity, which campaigns for wider use of alternative therapies in the NHS and has received £1million of taxpayer money.

The 49-year-old aide was arrested in a dawn raid in North-West London, along with a woman aged 54, Scotland Yard said.

Financial irregularities were discovered after auditors queried account transactions.

As a result, the foundation has missed a deadline for filing the required documents to Companies House and the Charity Commission by five months.

It has already incurred a £750 fine because of the delay and faces a further penalty of £1,500 by the end of this month.

If that is not paid, it faces prosecution as failure to file accounts is a criminal offence. 

The alleged fraud was reported to police days after the Mail on Sunday queried the failure to file the accounts on time.

Charles is aware money is missing and will be kept informed about the investigation.

His foundation, set up in 1993, promotes homoeopathy, herbal remedies and other complementary medicines.

It employs 14 people at its office in Central London and has received more than £1million in public funds, mainly from the Department of Health.

It is now funded mainly by sponsors and has also received £3million from the Prince's Charities Foundation, which handles his personal donations. 

Charles's backing of alternative medicine has led some scientists to accuse him of using his status to promote 'mumbo jumbo'. 

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