Canterbury Islamic jihad financier could be investigated by Govt

New Zealand’s most successful jihad financier could be investigated by Internal Affairs. One should not forget the background to the Canterbury Muslims Association which contributed to the 2019 Christchurch shooting. Millions of dollars have since washed through New Zealand back to the Islamic state/cause through Islamic nations. Linwood mosque has openly recruited  for both Islamic State and the Saudi jihad to terrorise the Yemen into submission, both based on the Korans commands to eliminate any who do not hold to a strictly literal reading of Koran.  While many celebrate that our premier jihad financier could be investigated, the most likely result will be that the NZ Govt is satisfied with the potential investment offers from the foreign Islamic financiers of this mosque.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is investigating complaints about the charity that runs Christchurch’s largest mosque.

The Muslim Association of Canterbury (MAC) severed ties with the national body the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ (Fianz) at an annual general meeting (AGM) on January 24, when many members also say it made “unconstitutional” changes to how it runs.

Stuff reported concerns from members and a charities expert about the “inappropriate” practice of giving all financial control to the president, and that members were not given time to fairly consider and vote on big decisions.

Those who did attend the poorly-advertised meeting last month said they felt they were put under duress to vote on a controversial rewrite of the organisation’s rules. Some are seeking legal advice.

The 800-member association manages Christchurch’s Masjid An Nur (Al Noor mosque), the focus of the terror attack on March 15, 2019 that left 51 people dead and dozens more injured.

Charities Services, governed by DIA, now says it has received several complaints about MAC.

It has opened an inquiry to request information from the charity, and “seek clarification about the concerns that have been raised”, a spokeswoman said.

A MAC spokesman was aware of the inquiry, but still believed the changes it had made were constitutional.

“As we have full confidence in our government’s due diligence processes we will not be making any further comments at this stage.”

One complainant told Stuff they wanted to see the current leadership stood down and a whole new constitution agreed on by its members.

Another complainant was happy Charities Services was now involved.

“The current MAC [leadership] have and are continuing to treat our community with contempt.

The complainant believed a thorough investigation was needed into “serious unilateral breaches” they alleged were carried out MAC’s leadership.

Members told Stuff after its AGM last month that the leadership had not widely publicised the meeting, that there were concerns about the association withdrawing its affiliation from FIANZ, and that the new rules gave too much control over finances to individual leaders.

Charities expert Michael Gousmett agreed the changes raised major red flags.

Giving a president full financial control, instead of a treasurer, was “inappropriate”, as was members not being given time to fairly consider and vote on big decisions.

In October, Charities Services also started an inquiry into the Linwood Islamic Charitable Trust after complaints regarding the mosque’s finances.

A Charities Services spokeswoman said that inquiry was ongoing, after a “helpful” meeting with the charity’s leaders in December.

She would not comment further.

Internal Affairs probes complaints about Muslim Association of Canterbury