The Kids Company founder was subjected to multiple investigations, none of which found any substantive allegations of any wrong doing. However, now it is up to the social media investigative team.
Born in Iran and educated in the UK, Batmanghelidjh became a prominent figure after she set up the Kids Company in south London in the late 1990s. This organisation providef support for youngsters scarred by poverty, abuse, trauma and gang violence. It specialised in supporting children, who had fallen through the gaps of social services and NHS services.
At the height of her influence she rubbed shoulders with Labour and Conservative prime ministers and had the support of various pop stars and artists. She was known as a distinctive supporter of children’s rights and reform of child protection.
Metropolitan Police go on a witch hunt
In 2015 a BBC Newsnight programme aired allegations of mishandling of sexual abuse by one of their clients who met the girls on their premises. Allegedly staff were told of these incidents but did not pass on the complaints. The Kids Company strenuously denied these allegations during a Metropolitan Police investigation. The charity was subsequently cleared a few months later, but it too late.
The Official Receiver wastes £9.5 million
Shortly after the allegations were made the charity’s board concluded the charity could no longer continue and shut it down. The Official Receiver brought in to deal with the closure claimed a couple of years later that there had been substantial financial mismanagement and took out proceedings in 2020 seeking to bar Batmanghelidjh and the rest of the board being barred from holding senior positions in any charities or companies. This was dismissed by the judge who commented that Batmanghelidjh and the board were “highly impressive and dedicated individuals”.
Charity Commission investigation doesn’t find much
To further add to the woes, there were accusations of mismanagement of the charity which was investigated by the Charity Commission. It did find some minor faults but nothing to suggest criminality, dishonesty or bad faith.
She and the other board members have been accused and thoroughly investigated multiple times, and been cleared. Of course that means nothing because people on Facebook have not had their chance.
The Facebook expert panel
While most users are commiserating and commenting on how the media paid a lot of attention on the accusations and little on the vindications, a few, having honed their legal and investigatory skills on YouTube, had a lot to add.
In response to The Guardian post, “Think anyone who looked at this soon realised CB was not what she claimed.”, “THIS WOMAN WAS A FAKE SHE TOOK MONEY FOR HERSELF, AND WAS BORN IN ENGLAND ,,, AND JUMPED ON THE BANDWAGON OF BLM”, “another that pocketed money and used a look to divert attention”, “not such a great person after all”, “woman was a crook”, “bye bye you fiddling witch”. There were lots of insightful comments.