Trustees £500k pay-off amounted to misconduct

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has found that the trustees of Glasgow East Regeneration Agency (GERA) were guilty of misconduct when they paid out a £500,000 redundancy payment to their former Chief Executive, Ronnie Saez.

GERA merged with a number of other charities and ceased to exist as a separate entity. Acting without any external professional advice, the trustees decided to award Mr Saez a £500,000 pay-off, which included a £232,708 discretionary pension augmentation . The OSCR said the pension augmentation award amounted to misconduct, though the remainder of the money paid to Mr Saez was required by the law. However, the OSCR could do nothing about the payment, as it has already been made to Mr Saez, and they do not have the power to claw-back the money or order Mr Saez to repay it.

If you line in Northern Ireland and would like to receive legal advice in respect of Trusts and Trust management, contact one of the solicitors at Wilson Nesbitt by calling 0800 840 9288.

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