Auditors allege Canadian charity helped Hamas financier
A government audit of one of Canada’s largest Muslim charities alleges some of its directors and employees were involved in “an apparent Hamas support network.”
Canada Revenue Agency auditors cited the “troubling” allegation as one of the reasons it felt there were grounds to revoke the charity status of the Muslim Association of Canada.
The March 2021 audit document, obtained by Global News, details the concerns the CRA charities branch raised about the federally-funded Muslim Association of Canada (MAC).
The 151-page report laid out the auditors’ preliminary concerns, before MAC had provided the CRA with its formal response. The concerns raised in the audit document have not been proven, and CRA’s final decision has not been made public.
MAC remains a registered charity in good standing. It has denied any wrongdoing and argues it is a victim of anti-Muslim bias. The auditors examined MAC’s records for the years 2012 to 2015.
Among the “areas of non-compliance” cited by the auditors were alleged ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and IRFAN-Canada, which Canada has designated a terrorist entity due to its support for Hamas.
Hamas is the Iranian-backed Palestinian armed group that attacked Israelis on the weekend, killing more than 1,000, including at least three Canadians.
According to Public Safety Canada, Hamas “emerged from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987.”
MAC tried to keep the audit report sealed, but a judge ordered its release.
In the report, the CRA Charities Directorate alleged MAC had “maintained a working relationship” with IRFAN-Canada, whose charity status was revoked in 2011 over an audit that found, among other things, that it sent millions to groups tied to Hamas.
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