Charity Self-Dealing
Strength of lead: Strong — Charity Commission regulatory intervention, documented loans
Summary
Mark Shooter is the sole director and sole secretary of The Shooter Charitable Foundation, a charity dedicated to advancing Orthodox Jewish faith and religious education. Since 2013, the charity has made personal loans to Shooter totalling up to £20,000. The Charity Commission issued regulatory advice on conflict-of-interest management. The total family control of the charity (Shooter, his wife Melissa, and son Jacob are the only trustees) means there is no independent governance.
Key Facts
- Charity: The Shooter Charitable Foundation Limited (Charity No. 1119115, Company No. 06183892)
- Purpose: “The advancement of orthodox Jewish faith, religious education, the relief of poverty, sickness & infirmity”
- Loans: Up to £20,000 to Mark Shooter personally since 2013
- Roles: Shooter is simultaneously sole director AND sole secretary — he can authorise loans to himself
- Trustees: Mark Shooter, Melissa Shooter, Jacob Shooter (appointed August 2025)
- Former officers: Alan Shooter (father, resigned 2011), Samuel Joseph Shooter (resigned 2021)
- Financials (2024-25): Income £6,907, Expenditure £18,129 — spending exceeds income
- Charity Commission: Issued regulatory advice regarding conflict-of-interest management
- Contact email: mark@shooter1.com
- Registered address: Begbies, 9 Bonhill Street, London, EC2A 4DJ (same as Karajan Ltd)
- Contact address: 51 Brampton Grove, London, NW4 4AH (Shooter’s home)
Sources: Charity Commission; The Londoner
Strategic Value
- A sitting councillor taking personal loans from a charity he controls raises serious governance questions
- The charity’s stated purpose (advancing Orthodox Jewish faith, relief of poverty) makes self-dealing particularly uncomfortable optically
- The Charity Commission’s regulatory intervention is documented
- Expenditure exceeding income in 2024-25 raises questions about the charity’s sustainability while servicing loans to its own trustee
- The total family control structure — no independent trustees — is itself a governance red flag